(LIBRARY^) 
WNIVCR8ITY  OF 
sauwaw 
JANflEQe     J 


c 


Of  a  second  impression  of  two  hundred 
copies  of  this  book  this  copy  is 
Slumber 


A  VACATION  ON  THE  NILE 


A  VACATION  ON  THE  NILE 


A    COLLECTION    OF    LETTERS 
WRITTEN  TO  FRIENDS  AT  HOME 


BY 
LEWIS  PARKHURST 


ILLUSTRATED    FROM    PHOTOGRAPHS    BY 
T.  W.  GILSON  AND  RICHARD  PARKHURST 


PRIVATELY   PRINTED 
1929 


COPYRIGHT,  1913,  BY  LEWIS  PARKHURST 

ALL   RIGHTS   RESERVED 
PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


THE  ATHENAEUM  PRESS 
GINN  AND  COMPANY  •  PRO- 
PRIETORS •  BOSTON  •  U.S.A. 


TO 

MY  PARTNERS 

IN  THE   FIRM   OF 

GINN   AND   COMPANY 


PREFACE 

Having  been  twenty-five  years  in  the  publishing 
business,  I  determined  to  take  a  good  long  vacation. 
I  had  heard  through  friends  and  had  read  that  there 
was  very  much  of  interest  to  be  seen  in  the  land  of 
the  Pharaohs,  so  on  January  10,  1912,  with  Mrs. 
Parkhurst  and  my  son  Richard,  I  left  New  York  on 
board  the  "  Adriatic  "  of  the  White  Star  Line,  bound 
for  Alexandria,  stopping  at  various  Atlantic  and  Med- 
iterranean ports  en  route.  Leaving  the  ship,  we  went 
by  rail  to  Cairo ;  thence  up  the  Nile  on  a  private 
dahabeah,  "  Happy  Days." 

We  had  invited  to  join  our  party,  Mr.  T.  W. 
Gilson,  a  friend  and  business  partner  of  many  years' 
standing,  Mrs.  Gilson,  and  Mrs.  Pond,  an  old  friend 
of  our  family.  Miss  Ireline  De  Witt,  a  recent  grad- 
uate of  Wells  College  and  daughter  of  a  business 
associate,  and  John  Gile,  about  to  enter  Dartmouth 
College  with  my  son  Richard,  also  accompanied  us. 
At  Alexandria  we  were  met  by  Miss  Watson,  who 
was  to  act  as  our  guide  and  teacher,  and  her  friend, 

[ix] 


PREFACE 

Fraulein  Vogel,  both  from  Dresden.  Our  party  of 
ten  was  thus  assured  of  that  strength  of  purpose  and 
breadth  of  view  which  come  from  age  and  experi- 
ence, and  did  not  lack  that  full  measure  of  enthusi- 
asm which  properly  belongs  to  youth. 

Miss  Watson  had  made  the  trip  several  times,  and 
to  her  knowledge  of  the  history  of  Egypt  and  the 
East,  as  well  as  her  acquaintance  with  modern  con- 
ditions and  the  preparations  necessary  to  make  the 
journey  comfortably,  our  party  are  indebted  for  a 
most  delightful  as  well  as  profitable  winter's  outing. 

From  time  to  time,  as  I  had  opportunity,  I  wrote 
of  our  experiences  to  my  secretary,  Miss  Ayer,  and 
she  very  kindly  sent  copies  of  these  letters  to  various 
friends  at  home.  At  their  suggestion  I  have  con- 
cluded to  print  these  letters  for  private  distribution. 
They  were  not  originally  written  for  publication,  but 
were  the  impressions  which  I  jotted  down  from  day 
to  day  as  we  journeyed  along ;  and  my  only  excuse 
for  putting  them  in  book  form  is  that  my  friends 
have  requested  me  so  to  do,  and  one  ought  always,  if 
possible,  to  comply  with  the  requests  of  friends. 

The  illustrations  which  accompany  these  letters 
have  been  selected  from  a  large  number  of  photo- 
graphs taken  along  the  way  by  Mr.  Gilson  or  Richard. 


PREFACE 

Although  held  responsible  each  year  for  properly 
manufacturing  several  millions  of  books,  this  is  my 
first  experience  in  attempting  to  publish  one  as  an 
author.  To  Mr.  Greeley  and  Mr.  Robinson  of  the 
editorial  staff  of  Ginn  and  Company  I  am  much  in- 
debted for  the  form  in  which  this  volume  appears. 

LEWIS  PARKHURST 

OAK  KNOLL 
WINCHESTER 


[xi] 


LIST  OF  PENCIL  SKETCHES 

PAGE 

THE  AZORES,   PONTA   DEL  GARDA 3 

WE  GO  ASHORE  IN  SMALL  BOATS 7 

ROCK   OF  GIBRALTAR II 

MESSINA  —  MT.  ./ETNA   AT  EXTREME  LEFT 15 

GOING  FOR  A   DRINK. IJ 

A  CARAVAN  OF  CAMELS 19 

MINIEH 25 

A   DAY   NURSERY 33 

FLOCK  OF  SHEEP— CULTIVATED    FIELD   BEYOND          ...  39 

PROPYLON  AT  EDFU 45 

TEMPLE   OF   PHIL&        .               51 

THE  TINKER  — HE   MENDS  OUR   POTS  AND   KETTLES         .        .  59 

SHEIK'S  TOMB 67 

STEPPE   PYRAMID 73 

DREDGER  ON  SUEZ  CANAL ,       .  8l 

THE   PIR^US 91 

ATHENIAN  TREASURY  AT  DELPHI 97 

OLIVE  TREES  IN  CORFU 109 


A  VACATION  ON  THE  NILE 


MEDITERRANEAN       SEA 


RELIEF    MAP    OF    EGYPT 


On  board  1(.  M.  S.  Adriatic  " 

January  75,  1912 
DEAR  FRIENDS  AT  HOME, 

Here  we  are  in  the  midst  of  a  roaring  gale  within 
a  few  hours  of  the  Azores.  The  sun  is  out  and  the 
waves  are  mountain  high  —  a  glorious  sight.  We  are 
all  thankful  that  the  first  days  were  on  a  reasonably 
peaceful  sea ;  otherwise  we  might  not  be  writing 
letters.  Our  party  are  in  fine  shape,  all  good  sailors 
now,  and  having  as  fine  a  time  as  you  can  imagine. 
We  have  had  a  following  sea  all  the  way  and  to-day 
is  the  first  heavy  weather  we  have  felt.  In  two  days 
it  was  quite  warm  and  no  overcoats  are  needed  to- 
day. The  "Adriatic  "  is  a  fine  ship  and  we  are  all  in 
splendid  quarters,  no  better  on  the  ship ;  a  charm- 
ing lot  of  people  aboard,  most  excellent  table,  good 
music  —  as  favorable  conditions  as  one  could  wish. 

[3] 


A  VACATION    ON    THE    NILE 

I  slept  about  fourteen  hours  out  of  the  twenty- 
four  till  to-day  and  now  I  am  ready  for  business.  As 
the  mail1  keeps  coming  in  from  every  train  I  won- 
der when  you  did  it  all.  I  knew  we  had  a  great 
team,  but  as  I  drink  deeper  and  deeper  of  that  bev- 
erage brewed  at  "  29  "  I  am  almost  overwhelmed  by 
the  work  of  artists,  poets,  prophets,  philosophers, 
seers,  and  sages,  and  wonder  if  I  have  really  lived  all 
these  years  among  such  jolly  humorists  without  know- 
ing it.  We  all  meet  after  dinner  in  No.  35,  begin 
with  Volume  I,  Number  i ,  and  add  to  it  each  day  as 
Richard  brings  in  the  mail.  It  is  great  fun  and  we  all 
appreciate  it  more  than  I  can  tell.  If  you  could  hear 
the  roar  of  laughter  go  up  as  each  new  point  is  made, 
you  would  realize  that  Ginn  Sling  is  good  for  what- 
ever ails  you.  To  all  who  helped  mix  this  refreshing 
beverage  I  drink  your  health  from  your  own  bowl. 
It  is  great  stuff,  as  the  two  boys,  Gilson  and  I,  say. 

We  are  now  doubtful  about  landing  at  the  Azores. 
Can't  do  so  unless  the  storm  abates,  so  I  don't  know 
where  this  letter  will  be  posted. 

1  Our  friends  with  Ginn  and  Company  had  prepared  for  each  day  of  our 
voyage,  fifteen  in  all,  a  paper  containing  original  material  intended  to  amuse 
and  entertain  us  on  our  journey.  It  was  styled  Ginn  Sling  and  was  most 
thoroughly  appreciated  by  all  in  the  party.  Each  evening  a  new  number  was 
read  and  the  previous  ones  reviewed. 

[4] 


ife 


* 


THE    R.  M.  S.    "ADRIATIC  "   (28,000  TONS) 


THE    FOURTH    DAY   OUT 


PONTA   DEL   GARDA  — THE    LANDING 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

We  all  feel  truly  grateful  for  the  many  thoughtful 
and  lovely  things  you  have  all  done  to  make  our  long 
journey  so  enjoyable.  I  can't  imagine  a  party  start- 
ing off  under  more  favorable  auspices.  Please  thank 
everybody,  for  I  can't  begin  to  call  them  by  name. 
We  feel  that  our  lives  have  been  cast  among  those 
whom  it  is  a  privilege  and  a  pleasure  to  be  with,  and 
your  pleasant  faces  will  be  with  us  wherever  we  may 
travel.  I  hope  this  will  find  you  all  in  good  health. 
I  do  not  give  a  moment's  anxious  thought  to  busi- 
ness or  home,  for  I  know  that  both  are  in  the  best 
of  hands. 

With  best  wishes  to  everybody,  believe  me, 

Sincerely  yours, 

L.  P. 


[5] 


MARKET,   THE    AZORES 


MADEIRA,   FUNCHAL 


'-      ' 


TERRACE    FARMS,   MADEIRA 


BULLOCK   SLEDGE.   MADEIRA 


II 

On  board  <%.  M.  S.  Adriatic" 

January  /<?,  1912 
DEAR  FRIENDS  AT  No.  29, 

Here  we  are  off  the  coast  of  Africa  en  route  Ma- 
deira to  Gibraltar.    As  lovely  a  day  as  you  ever  saw 

—  smooth  sea,  clear  sky,  warm  as  a  June  or  July  day 

—  everybody  on  deck  with  no  coats  or  wraps.    Can 
there  be  any  winter  on  earth  ?    I  think  I  wrote  the 
first  letter  before  we  reached  the  Azores.    We  had  a 
wild  day  of  it  and  feared  we  could  not  land,  but  it 
calmed  in  the  night.    As  I  looked  out  in  the  morn- 
ing we  were  just  rounding  the  island,  which  rose  out 
of  the  sea  green  and  lovely  to  look  upon  —  a  wel- 
come sight  to  us  all,  for  we  felt  our  longest  pull  was 
at  an  end.    All  have  stood  the  journey  well  and  are 
now  fine  sailors.    I  feel  sure  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gilson 
are  having  a  most  enjoyable  time,  as  we  all  are. 

[7] 


A  VACATION    ON   THE    NILE 

The  landing  at  the  Azores,  as  well  as  Madeira,  is 
by  means  of  small  boats  or  launches  and  is  not  with- 
out excitement  and  some  trepidation  on  the  part  of 
those  trying  it  for  the  first  time.  To  go  down  forty  or 
fifty  feet  and  then  find  the  little  boat  rising  and  falling 
with  every  wave  tries  the  nerves  of  the  ladies  some ; 
but  all  were  glad  they  went  and  that  it  was  over. 

Since  we  left  the  Azores  the  weather  has  been 
perfect,  and  yesterday  at  Madeira  was  one  of  the 
most  charming  experiences  I  ever  had.  The  ap- 
proach to  the  islands,  the  landing,  the  crowds  of 
barefooted  and  barebacked  boatmen  diving  for  coins, 
the  terraced  hills  rising  abruptly  two  to  three  thou- 
sand feet  high,  every  foot  cultivated,  with  here  and 
there  masses  of  red,  yellow,  and  purple  flowers  (I  do 
not  know  their  names),  altogether  made  an  impres- 
sion long  to  be  remembered. 

I  have  sent  cards  to  different  ones  in  the  office, 
which  will  give  some  idea  of  the  strange  costumes  of 
the  people,  who  in  the  main  are  rather  poor  but  seem 
of  a  happy  disposition  and  very  polite  to  us  travel- 
ers. Little  boys  and  girls  run  alongside  of  our  "  Bull 
Sledges  "  and  throw  in  flowers,  and  so  pick  up  many 
a  penny  from  the  strangers  who  came  in  the  big  ship, 
—  one  of  the  largest,  if  not  the  largest,  ever  seen  here. 

[8] 


HAMMOCK  — KASY    WAY   TO   GO    UP   THE    MOUNTAIN 


TOBOGGAN  — EASY   WAY   TO   COME    DOWN 


MONTE    PALACE    HOTEL.   PARTY  AT    LUNCH 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

We  had  our  lunch  two  thousand  feet  above  the 
sea  on  the  hotel  piazza,  with  the  hills  and  gardens, 
the  town  and  harbor,  and  the  great  ocean  at  our  very 
feet  —  about  the  most  beautiful  and  at  the  same  time 
magnificent  view  I  have  ever  enjoyed.  Then  we 
scooted  down  over  the  slippery  stones  in  our  basket 
sledges  two  miles  to  the  shore,  with  gardens  and 
flowers  and  smiling  girls  on  each  side.  A  rare  day  ! 
Many  English  come  here  for  the  winter.  I  can 
imagine  nothing  more  to  be  desired  for  a  winter  re- 
sort—  there  is  so  much  that  is  strange,  and  enough 
modern  to  be  comfortable. 

We  have  simply  been  overwhelmed,  since  our  de- 
parture, with  the  kindness  of  our  friends  at  home. 
The  daily  mail  is  the  event  of  the  evening.  We 
cannot  thank  you  all  half  enough  for  the  thought 
that  prompted  it  and  the  great  work  needed  to  pre- 
pare such  a  series  of  entertaining  papers.  Maley's 
night  with  the  Elks  was  the  latest  and  I  nearly  fell 
overboard  as  I  reached  the  climax. 

L.  P. 


[9] 


I 


U    »! 


IM^^MHHBHHMr&  f,:&  '       •  ,- . 


LACE    MAKERS,   MADEIRA 


LACE    SELLERS,    MADEIRA 


Ill 

On  board  ^  M.  S.  Adriatic  " 

January  22,  1912 
DEAR   Miss  AVER, 

I  cannot  begin  to  write  you  what  an  elegant  time 
we  are  all  having.  Everything  so  far  has  been  per- 
fection itself.  Yesterday  we  spent  in  Africa  and  to- 
morrow we  are  to  be  in  Europe.  Just  now  we  are 
off  the  Balearic  Islands.  The  sea  is  perfectly  calm, 
the  sky  is  blue,  the  sun  warm,  the  islands  are  per- 
haps five  miles  away  and  with  glasses  we  can  see  all 
that  is  going  on.  Our  run  to  Gibraltar  from  the 
Azores  and  Madeira  was  quick  and  as  warm  as  in 
midsummer.  A  perfect  day  at  Gibraltar,  then  an 
afternoon's  run  within  sight  of  the  Spanish  mountains, 
which  are  now  snowcapped.  The  sunset  over  their 
tops  was  a  dazzling  picture  of  bright  colors.  In  the 
morning  we  were  over  on  the  African  coast  and  ran 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

within  a  few  miles  of  land  all  the  forenoon,  landing 
at  Algiers  at  one  and  leaving  at  nine.  All  northern 
Africa  is  bordered  by  lofty  mountains,  —  fifty  miles 
or  so  from  the  coast,  —  and  their  slopes  and  the 
hills  are  covered  with  farms  and  orange,  olive,  fig, 
and  date  trees.  Our  ship  is  simply  loaded  with  the 
most  delicious  fruit.  We  have  it  at  table,  on  deck, 
and  in  our  cabins. 

We  were  five  hours  ashore  at  Algiers,  with  two 
carriages  and  a  guide.  We  saw  a  heap.  The  city  is 
French  and  Arabian  —  seventy  thousand  of  the  latter 
huddled  into  a  space  where  ten  thousand  would 
be  crowded.  The  walk  through  this  part  of  the 
town  is  long  to  be  remembered.  The  streets  are  not 
over  eight  feet  wide,  sometimes  only  six.  Strange 
sights  one  sees  here.  This  was  the  old  home  of  the 
pirates  for  centuries  and  conditions  have  changed  but 
little  —  bright  colors,  veiled  women,  barelegged  men, 
some  of  them  horrible  to  look  upon,  brazen-faced  girls, 
beggars  galore,  and  filth  over  all.  Mrs.  Parkhurst's 
ideas  of  housekeeping  received  a  shock  which  will 
last  till  she  sees  Oak  Knoll  again,  and  she  exclaimed, 
"  Never  will  I  go  into  such  a  place  again."  I  replied, 
"  Don't  make  any  rash  statements,  for  this  is  my  time." 
But  it  was  a  sight  to  make  one  shudder.  The  French 

[12] 


v    -T  ."  '  :  .• ','•"'".'  -•••--;-•. 


. 


WE   SEE   THE   TOWN— GIBRALTAR 


11 


ALGIERS 


J 
».  v»  + .  ^^k-*  fc»^ 


WE    WALK   IN    THE    GARDENS  —  ALGIERS 


WE    PASS   A  SQUARE    RIGGER,   NOT   OFTEN   SEEN 


; 


A  VACATION    ON    THE    NILE 

part  of  the  town  is  clean,  and  the  harbor  is  full  of 
ships  loading  with  wine,  thousands  of  casks  of  which 
cover  the  docks,  brought  in  from  all  northern  Africa. 
We  went  into  an  Arab  school  —  a  few  old  men  sit- 
ting on  the  ground  teaching  only  the  Koran.  None 
of  these  people  can  read  or  write.  These  schools  are 
to  be  closed  by  the  government  next  year,  and  French 
is  to  be  taught  to  all.  We  saw  a  public  scribe  who 
alone  writes  for  all.  A  real  Arabian  Nights  colony, 
very  interesting  to  see  once. 

We  are  all  pretty  nearly  intoxicated  with  our  daily 
portion  of  the  Ginn  Sling.  I  am  simply  dumfounded 
at  the  wit  and  wisdom  of  its  pages.  Our  last  was  a 
letter  from  the  Pope  and  the  Winchester  Symposium. 
I  want  to  know  some  time  who  did  it  all.  I  acknowl- 
edge that  you  have  this  time  beaten  all  previous  rec- 
ords. A  great  team  is  the  Ginn  team. 

Everybody  is  in  fine  shape. 

L.P. 


MONTH    CARLO    FROM    RIVIERA   DRIVK 


ALEXANDRIA  — LAN7DING    BOATS   AS   SF.EN    FROM    THE    DECK 


EGYPTIAN    RAILWAY  — ALEXANDRIA   TO   CAIRO 


IV 

On  board  <%.  M.  S.  "^Adriatic" 

January  ^7,  1912 
To  ALL  OUR  FRIENDS  AT  No.  29, 

It  is  almost  sunset  and  to-morrow  morning  at  eight 
we  are  due  in  Alexandria.  The  voyage  has  been  one 
series  of  most  delightful  days  and  we  hate  to  leave 
the  ship,  she  has  been  such  a  good  home  to  us  all. 
Everything  has  been  as  near  perfection  as  one  could 
desire,  and  in  this  I  think  all  agree  —  no  sickness, 
fine  weather,  everything  planned  for  the  best  kind 
of  a  time. 

We  spent  a  day  in  and  about  Nice,  Monaco, 
Mentone,  and  Monte  Carlo,  with  a  forty-mile  auto 
drive  along  the  Riviera,  and  called  at  Genoa  and  Naples. 
In  these  northern  cities  we  needed  an  overcoat  and  in 
Naples  it  rained  —  the  first  to  trouble  us  --  but  as  we 
are  to  return  there  later  the  ladies  did  not  go  ashore. 

[-5] 


A   VACATION   ON   THE   NILE 

We  left  Naples  at  10  P.M.  and  at  eight  next  day  we 
entered  the  Strait  of  Messina,  running  near  the  town, 
where  we  could  see  the  ravages  of  the  great  earth- 
quake. It  was  most  interesting.  Above  all  rose  Mt. 
./Etna,  white  with  snow  and  glistening  like  a  jewel  in 
the  morning  sun,  with  the  green  hills  and  slopes  be- 
low and  the  great  blue  sea  around  all.  I  think  it  was 
the  most  beautiful  natural  object  I  ever  looked  upon 
and  one  never  to  be  forgotten.  Puffs  of  smoke,  nearly- 
white,  came  out  of  the  mountain  at  frequent  intervals, 
adding  to  the  interest.  With  the  glasses  it  seemed 
quite  near.  These  two  days  have  been  warm  with 
clear  sky,  a  lovely  blue  sea,  most  refreshing  breezes 
—  perfect  days. 

All  are  well  and  have  been  all  the  way.  We  are 
a  very  happy  crowd,  and  I  cannot  tell  you  all  how 
much  the  daily  paper  has  added  to  our  pleasure.  To- 
night we  shall  open  the  last  one.  We  can  never 
properly  answer  them.  You  have  done  us  up  this 
time  and  no  mistake.  We  hope  for  mail  to-morrow, 
as  so  far  we  have  not  heard  a  word  from  home  and 
we  are  quite  a  way  off  from  old  Boston.  Love  to  all. 
Now  for  the  camels. 

Yours, 

L.  P. 
[16] 


PLOWING    WITH    WOODEN    PLOW.     NOTICE    THE    YOKE 


v 


HOTEL  SEMIRAMIS.     BRIDGE   LEADING   TO   PYRAMIDS.    BARRACKS 

BEYOND 


PYRAMIDS    ACROSS    THE    DESER' 


ROAD    TO    PYRAMIDS 


- 


- . 


PYRAMID   OF    CHEOPS 


Sl'HYNX    AM)    PYRAMID 


lift' 


Hi; 


^ 


A    RIDE    AMONG   THE    PYRAMIDS 


Semiramis  Hote/, 

January  29, 
DEAR  FRIENDS  ALL, 

We  had  a  charming  trip  from  Naples  to  Alexan- 
dria and  a  most  interesting  ride  in  an  English  train 
to  this  city,  passing  for  hours  through  fertile  fields 
tilled  by  the  natives,  with  camels,  donkeys,  buffalo 
cows,  and  native  Egyptians  in  all  colors  of  the  rain- 
bow on  every  hand. 

Our  first  view  of  the  pyramids  was  from  my  win- 
dow in  this  hotel,  which  stands  on  the  bank  of  the 
Nile  just  above  a  fine  bridge.  We  looked  west  across 
the  river,  and  just  as  the  sun  went  down  there  they 
were  right  at  hand,  about  eight  or  ten  miles  away. 
The  air  was  clear  and  their  lines  were  sharply  de- 
fined—  a  grand  sight!  We  drove  out  last  night 
after  ten  o'clock  to  see  them  and  the  sphinx  by 

[*7] 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

moonlight.  We  put  Mrs.  Parkhurst  on  a  donkey  as 
soon  as  we  reached  there,  and  with  an  old  Arab,  who 
claimed  to  have  seen  Mark  Twain  when  he  came 
here,  we  formed  a  procession  and  for  an  hour  or 
more  wound  our  way  around  these  mighty  works  of 
the  ancients  —  a  weird  sight  and  one  long  to  be  re- 
membered. The  moon  was  just  right  to  get  the 
shadows.  We  reached  home  at  midnight,  tired  but 
well  paid  for  our  first  sightseeing  trip. 

We  go  on  board  the  dahabeah  to-night  and  start 
early  to-morrow  morning. 

This  is  a  lovely  city  —  broad  streets,  fine  hotels. 
All  types  of  men  in  the  world  are  here  I  guess. 
The  river  is  at  our  feet.  Strange  boats  are  moored 
under  our  windows,  natives  are  building  little  fires  of 
charcoal  on  board  to  cook  their  breakfasts,  many  of 
them  from  far  up  the  Nile. 

The  weather  is  very  warm  in  the  middle  of  the 
day,  but  I  wore  my  fur  coat  in  riding  out  to  the 

pyramids  last  night. 

Hastily, 

L.  P. 


[18] 


V" 


NILE    FROM    THE    SEMIRAMIS 


/:/ 

.         £f          ^-    f* 

Bw: 

^^*^*^""^^-  -                . 

WE   (JO   ABOARD   OUR    UAHABEAH 


\ 


rnjwnniiPWAM 


^Oi: 


LUNCH    IS    SERVED 


. 


• 

w  B 


OUR   OFFICIAL    PHOTOGRAPHER,   MR.   GILSON,   TAKING   LIFE    EASY 


OUR   CRKW,WITH   POI.KMY   AT  LEFT 


-  aPIT  *    ^ 

• 


THE  REIS  (CAPTAIN) 


ABDUL  — THE  HELMSMAN 


'•• 


1J 


ill 


VI 

On  board  T)ahabeah  "  Happy  T)ays  " 

3^ile  l^tver 
February  /,  1912 
DEAR  FRIENDS  ALL, 

I  will  begin  our  business  year  by  telling  you  briefly 
of  our  boat  and  some  of  our  doings  to  date. 

This  is  really  a  houseboat  belonging  to  a  wealthy 
resident  of  Cairo  who  uses  it  himself  in  the  summer 
and  rents  it  in  winter.  It  is  a  steel  boat,  very  com- 
plete and  quite  palatial,  something  over  one  hundred 
feet  in  length,  about  twenty  feet  in  width  amidships, 
sharp  at  the  bow,  and  wide  and  round  at  the  stern. 
It  draws  only  three  or  four  feet  of  water.  The  floor 
of  the  main  deck  is  almost  awash  and  the  windows 
of  the  cabin  come  down  to  the  top  of  the  rail. 
From  the  stern  about  two  thirds  is  roofed  in.  In  the 
stern  is  a  saloon  large  enough  for  all  to  sit.  Here  are 

['9] 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

writing  desks,  lounges,  and  many  convenient  lockers. 
Forward  are  the  cabins  for  ten  with  bath ;  then  the 
dining  room,  very  spacious,  the  whole  width  of  the 
boat,  with  our  table  set  for  ten ;  in  front  of  that  are 
the  servants'  quarters,  and  on  the  deck,  in  the  extreme 
front,  the  cook's  galley.  The  crew  eat  and  sleep  on 
the  foredeck.  The  roof  over  the  cabins  and  dining 
room  makes  the  upper  deck,  over  which  are  awn- 
ings. Here  we  spend  most  of  the  day.  Lunch  is 
served  here  also,  if  not  too  windy.  There  are  pan- 
tries and  closets  of  all  kinds,  many  lockers  and  draw- 
ers, couches,  easy-chairs,  cushions  galore,  all  oriental 
and  luxurious,  besides  a  piano  in  the  dining  room. 
We  have  two  masts,  one  very  large  and  one  small  sail, 
and  a  tug  to  take  us  along  when  the  wind  is  against  us. 
We  fly  the  American  flag,  and  it  is  reported  along- 
shore that  General  Parkhurst  and  Colonel  Gilson 
are  on  board.  We  have  two  small  boats  astern,  one 
large  enough  for  our  entire  party  and  six  oarsmen, 
and  one  small  one  in  which  are  some  crates  to  con- 
tain turkeys,  chickens,  ducks,  and  pigeons  which  we 
are  later  to  purchase  of  the  natives  —  altogether  a 
complete  outfit,  stocked  with  provisions  for  six 
weeks  except  such  as  we  can  get  along  the  river. 
Our  crew  consists  of  a  captain  and  twelve  men, 

[20] 


THE   WAITERS    AND   LAUNDRYMAN    IN   WORKING   CLOTHES 


THE    CREW    DRY    THEIR    BREAD    IN    THE    SUN    FOR    THE    TRIP 


CREW    WADE   ASHORE   AM)    PUI.L   US   IN 


' 


WE    TIE    UP    TO    THE    BANK.   AT    NIGHT 


SMOKING    HASHEESH 


[- 


II 


A   VACATION    ON    THE    NILE 

all  black  Berbers,  with  turbans  and  flowing  skirts  of 
different  colors  —  very  picturesque.  All  are  barefoot 
except  the  captain,  who  puts  on  red  slippers  when  he 
is  fully  dressed.  They  are  all  Mohammedans,  some 
very  devout,  who  drop  down  to  their  devotions  regu- 
larly ;  others,  with  certain  Unitarian  tendencies,  seem 
to  depend  more  upon  their  works  than  upon  their 
prayers.  They  speak  only  Arabic.  The  cook  is  a 
Greek.  We  have  two  black  Nubian  boys  in  the  din- 
ing room,  and  a  Swiss  maid  to  look  after  the  cabins 
and  the  ladies.  There  is  also  a  Copt,  who  is  the 
washer  and  ironer,  and  a  boy  who  cooks  for  the  crew. 
We  travel  only  by  day  and  tie  up  to  the  bank  over- 
night. We  have  the  best  outfit  I  have  seen  yet  on 
the  river,  but  there  may  be  better. 

The  river  is  from  one  half  to  a  mile  wide,  some- 
times a  mile  and  a  half,  with  a  swift  current,  very 
muddy  and  full  of  sand  bars.  A  man  at  the  bow  of  the 
boat  constantly  tries  the  depth  with  a  pole,  as  the  sand 
shifts  and  no  one  knows  where  the  channel  is.  We 
have  been  on  a  bar  once,  but  got  off  with  our  tug  in 
a  few  minutes.  We  run  from  six  in  the  morning  to 
six  in  the  evening,  and  from  our  deck  we  can  see  all 
Egypt  as  we  pass.  Sometimes  the  desert  comes  almost 
to  the  river,  and  again  the'  fertile  land  stretches  back 

[*«] 


A  VACATION   ON   THE   NILE 

as  far  as  we  can  see.  The  river  is  the  great  high- 
way. Everything  centers  about  it.  The  water  is 
now  falling.  It  has  gone  down  about  eight  feet.  As 
fast  as  it  recedes  the  land  is  sown  or  planted.  The 
grain  first  sown  is  a  foot  high,  and  the  natives  are 
now  planting  and  sowing  to  the  water's  edge.  From 
the  deck  we  can  see  with  glasses  all  that  is  going  on, 
and  the  sights  are  many  and  strange. 

The  towns  are  small  and  scattered,  consisting  of 
miserable  mud  huts  one  story  high,  covered  with  any 
kind  of  thatch  that  can  be  found.  The  fields,  how- 
ever, are  very  fertile  wherever  the  water  has  been. 
Camels,  donkeys,  and  buffalo  oxen  do  the  work  that 
is  not  done  by  hand.  The  same  wooden  plows,  the 
same  waterpots  —  everything  the  same  as  it  was  a 
thousand  years  ago.  Women  come  down  to  the  bank 
with  their  waterpots  on  their  heads,  look  at  us  a  few 
minutes,  walk  into  the  river,  fill  their  pots,  set  them 
on  the  bank,  wash  their  faces,  hands,  and  feet  to  the 
knees,  put  the  waterpot  (weighing,  I  should  think, 
one  hundred  pounds)  on  their  heads,  and  walk  off 
as  straight  as  arrows.  Most  have  bracelets  on  their 
arms,  some  on  their  ankles,  and  now  and  then  one 
wears  ornaments  in  her  nose.  Their  garment  is  one 
long,  flowing  robe,  always  black,  while  the  men 


THE   TUG    "ARROW"    HELPS   US   UPSTREAM 


WATCHING   FOR   SAND    KARS 


RICHARD   TAKES   IT   EASY 


IIT.T, 


•„ 


SOMETIMES    WE    RUN    CLOSE    TO   SHORE 


BOATS   LOADING   WITH    SUGAR   CANE 


A  VACATION   ON   THE   NILE 

wear  colored  garments — white,  blue,  brown,  or  black, 
sometimes,  but  not  often,  red.  All  the  men  and  women 
are  barefooted.  They  are  brown,  but  their  features  are 
not  those  of  negroes. 

Irrigation  plants  are  springing  up  where  the  water 
is  pumped  by  engines,  but  by  far  the  greater  part  of 
the  irrigation  is  done  by  the  river  alone,  and  when  it 
goes  down,  the  water  is  pumped  up  by  the  old  mill 
wheel,  called  sakieh,  turned  by  an  ox,  a  camel,  or 
a  donkey,  and  then  carried  off  in  ditches.  Further 
up  the  river  it  is  nearly  all  raised  by  hand,  one  man 
passing  it  up  to  another  by  a  series  of  old-fashioned 
well  sweeps,  called  shadoofs,  each  carrying  it  up  a 
few  feet.  Boats  of  all  kinds  abound,  but  for  the 
most  part  they  are  the  same  as  in  the  days  of  the 
Pharaohs. 

The  weather  is  warm  at  midday  but  cool  at  night. 
To-day  we  have  had  an  experience  not  down  on  the 
program.  A  sirocco,  or  windstorm,  struck  us  about 
noon.  As  it  came  straight  from  the  south  we  could 
not  withstand  it.  We  were  blown  about  for  a  time, 
but  finally  made  a  shore  and  were  tied  up  six  hours. 
We  could  not  see  twenty  rods.  The  sand  was  like  a 
snowstorm  and  our  whole  outfit  is  simply  filled  with  it, 
but  the  wind  is  now  abating  and  we  are  running  again. 


A  VACATION    ON   THE    NILE 

We  have  seen  pyramids  at  frequent  intervals,  all 
on  the  west  bank  of  the  river,  and  expect  to  make 
an  excursion  to-morrow  to  some  ancient  tombs  in 
the  mountains  at  Beni  Hassan. 

This  is  a  fine  place  to  sleep  and  lead  a  lazy  life, 
and  there  is  something  of  interest  on  the  shore  at 
every  turn.  Mr.  Gilson  is  taking  pictures  by  the 
score.  He  will  have  a  most  interesting  collection. 

All  are  well  and  seem  to  be  having  a  splendid 
time.  We  stop  for  mail  to-morrow.  We  had  none 
at  Cairo  before  we  left.  Hope  all  goes  well  at  "  29  " 

and  Oak  Knoll.    Love  to  all. 

L.  P. 


[24] 


w{| 

..' 

»??f? 


THE    SAKIEH 


i 


WOMEN   WASHING  ON   SHORE 


THE   WOMEN   DRESS   IN    BLACK. 


'ft,  .*.-,, 


. 


AT  LOW   WATER   SEVERAL  SHADOOFS   ARE    NECESSARY 


- 


A   RIVER   STEAMER 


NATIVE   BOAT   LOADED   WITH  GOOLAHS 


• 

/ 

' 

-^ 

THEY   LOOK.   IN   THE   DISTANCE   LIKE   HUGE   BUTTERFLIES 


•'- 


i    ••fW*-'  ,-•---  —A. 


SAWING   LUMBER   FOR    BOAT   BUILDING 


VII 


On  the  .*A(V/£,  near  Iteni  Hassan 

February  4,  1912 
DEAR  FRIENDS  ALL, 

We  were  all  delighted  yesterday,  when  we  stopped 
at  Minieh,  to  find  our  first  letters  from  home  and  to 
learn  that  everything  was  moving  along  comfortably. 
We  can  hardly  believe  your  reports  about  the  weather, 
it  is  so  warm  and  sunny  here.  Tell  Mr.  Ginn  to  keep 
right  on  writing.  If  I  had  my  stenographer  along,  I 
could  dictate  by  the  hour  and  have  enough  for  a 
book  when  I  get  home.  As  it  is,  this  running  letter 
must  do  for  all,  as  we  are  now  very  busy  from  morn- 
ing till  night. 

We  rise  at  about  7.30  and  each  gets  his  breakfast 
as  he  pleases  —  coffee,  rolls,  fruit,  and  eggs.  Then 
we  jump  on  deck  with  our  glasses  and  just  look. 
There  is  something  new  every  minute  :  boats  on  the 

[25] 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

river  going  a  thousand  miles  to  market  at  Cairo ; 
ferries,  all  sailboats,  carrying  laborers  across  to  the 
fields,  which  are  often  opposite  the  villages ;  camels 
and  donkeys,  loaded  with  all  kinds  of  merchandise, 
some  carrying  stone  to  build  dikes  with,  others  loaded 
with  sugar  cane.  At  night  people  and  animals  are  all 
huddled  together  in  villages.  There  are  no  isolated 
houses  in  the  country  as  we  have  at  home.  Every- 
thing is  brought  to  the  river,  which  is  the  great 
highway ;  water  carriers  are  everywhere,  for  there  is 
no  water  save  the  Nile,  which  is  now  about  ten  feet 
below  high-water  mark  and  still  falling.  As  fast  as 
the  water  recedes  they  plant.  Last  year's  corn  and 
sugar  cane  are  now  being  harvested.  Thousands  of 
acres  of  onions  and  beans  are  now  seen  half-grown. 
The  people  are  poor,  terribly  poor.  A  house  con- 
sists often  of  four  walls  —  no  roof.  This  keeps  the 
wind  out ;  there  is  no  rain.  A  few  clothes  —  cotton 
cloth  —  cover  them  in  part,  and  they  have  basket- 
work,  rugs,  or  cheap  quilts  for  a  covering  at  night. 
They  have  not  a  chair,  a  table,  or  any  kind  of  furni- 
ture. At  the  door  a  fire  is  built  on  which  is  a  pot 
or  kettle  in  which  soup  or  beans  are  cooked.  They 
rarely  have  any  meat  except  once  or  twice  a  year  on 
holidays.  Their  condition  is  most  hopeless,  but  it  is 

[26] 


GOOLA//S,  OR    WATER   JARS 


'•••I-  • 


<* ' 


ROAD   ALONG    RIVER    BANK.     CLIFFS    BEYOND 


/    •»J»WWL*k- 

x   ,; 


THE   WHOLE   FAMILY   MAKES   THE   JOURNEY   UP   AND   DOWN   THE 
NILE   TO   MARKET 


' 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

said  to  be  better  now  than  formerly.  The  English 
have  made  great  improvements  in  the  way  of  abating 
the  taxes,  and  money  is  loaned  at  a  fair  rate  of  inter- 
est to  help  these  people  with  their  seed.  Formerly 
the  pashas  took  sixty  per  cent  per  year  and  in  time 
the  fields,  so  that  most  of  the  natives  were  really 
slaves.  Now  their  pay  is  small,  but  they  get  some- 
thing for  their  labor  and  have  to  work  only  a  few 
days  each  year  on  the  public  lands.  As  I  write  we 
are  passing  a  place  where  the  waterpots  are  made 
for  all  Egypt ;  they  are  of  clay,  and  there  are  loads 
of  them  beside  the  water. 

Occasionally  we  pass  high  cliffs  of  soft  limestone. 
These  are  being  worked  for  lime,  which  is  burned  in 
kilns,  and  especially  for  stone  to  build  dikes  to  keep 
the  banks  of  the  river  in  place.  Every  year  the  Nile 
changes  its  course,  tearing  out  hundreds  of  acres  of 
land,  washing  it  on  downstream.  Yesterday  we  saw 
a  man  watching  his  farm  slowly  disappear,  as  the 
mighty  river  took  a  new  turn.  He  was  helpless  and 
probably  lost  his  all.  Large  companies  are  now  com- 
ing in  and  building  dikes,  putting  up  sugar  mills  and 
trying  some  new  methods  in  agriculture ;  but  farm- 
ing is  mostly  done  by  the  natives  as  their  fathers  and 
grandfathers  have  done  it  for  ages. 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

So  we  look  and  look  until  about  twelve,  when 
Miss  Watson  reads  or  talks  about  the  country  we  are 
passing  through  or  the  things  we  are  to  see.  Lunch 
is  at  12.30.  We  have  a  fine  chef,  and  the  things  he 
can  make  in  his  little  coop  are  a  wonder  to  us  all. 

After  lunch,  which  is  served  on  deck  unless 
windy,  we  look  again.  At  four  tea  is  served  (a  la 
Miss  Noyes  at  "  29  "),  and  as  I  write  I  am  called,  so 
will  stop  and  try  the  tea  and  the  little  cakes  which 
the  chef  makes. 

The  tea  was  very  refreshing,  as  the  day  is  warm  — 
hot  in  the  sun,  but  lovely  under  the  awning  as  the 
boat  moves  along.  Thus  far  we  have  had  head  winds 
most  of  the  way,  so  our  progress  is  not  as  fast  as 
sometimes.  The  groves  of  the  date  palm  are  very 
beautiful  and  near  them  are  all  the  villages.  Yester- 
day we  walked  through  one  and  also  the  town  of 
Minieh,  which  is  the  capital  of  a  province.  We 
have  to  pay  a  tax  as  we  pass  each  province,  and 
when  we  tie  up  at  night,  if  near  a  village,  the  sheik 
sends  down  a  man  with  a  gun  to  guard  us,  who  of 
course  expects  pay  for  his  protection.  I  think  he 
sleeps  all  night. 

The  evenings  are  beyond  description.  If  you  look 
in  Talbot  Kelly's  Egypt,  you  will  see  some  colored 

[28] 


! 


MISS   WATSON 


GROVE   OF   DATE    PALMS   WITH    PAVING   BLOCKS   IN    PILES 


'-     '  V- 


:  j. ;  ^.^tid^L fe   •  'v 

l';; 


T,.^,,  .,„:-•  it  -«-p*!TJL>- 

«&    , 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

plates  which  tell  in  part  the  story.  The  cloudless 
sky  in  the  east  begins  to  color  as  the  sun  goes  down, 
and  we  get  almost  the  complete  prism  of  colors  from 
the  violet,  deep  blue,  pink,  to  gray  and  white.  The 
moon  is  now  full,  and  the  evenings  on  the  river  are 
most  delightful.  This  morning  I  got  up  early  and 
found  the  same  beautiful  colors  in  the  west  as  the  sun 
came  up  in  the  east. 

So  we  look  and  exclaim  and  admire  till  dinner  is 
served  at  7.30,  after  which,  if  it  is  warm,  we  go  up 
again  for  a  look  at  the  moon  and  the  palm  trees  as 
they  are  silhouetted  against  the  sky ;  then  to  bed  and 
a  sound  sleep,  for  one  is  really  quite  busy  all  day. 

So  far  I  have  written  of  things  as  they  are  now. 
We  have  taken  one  excursion  to  the  mountains  on 
the  east  side  of  the  river,  to  see  the  relics  of  things 
as  they  were  four  thousand  years  ago.  The  trip  was 
made  on  donkeys.  We  each  have  a  saddle  which  we 
carry  on  the  boat ;  the  native  ones  are  too  filthy. 
We  all  have  helmet  hats  and  veils  to  keep  away  the 
flies,  but  so  far  we  have  seen  few  of  these  pests  ex- 
cept in  the  villages,  where  they  swarm.  We  made  a 
gay  party  with  our  donkeys,  each  led  by  a  barefoot 
donkey  boy,  and  the  sheik  of  the  village  in  charge 
of  all.  We  were  gone  about  four  hours  and  enjoyed 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

it  much.  I  will  not  attempt  to  describe  what  we 
saw  in  the  mountain  houses,  or  tombs,  as  they  are 
commonly  called.  Baedeker  or  the  histories  tell  it  as 
well  as  it  can  be  told.  But  I  simply  marvel  at  the 
work  that  those  early  people  did.  There  were  rooms 
fifty  or  sixty  feet  square  and  perhaps  twenty  feet  high, 
cut  out  of  the  solid  rock.  These  were  the  entrances 
to  the  tombs,  the  bodies  being  placed  some  ten  or 
twenty  feet  below  the  floor.  One  must  understand 
the  Egyptian's  theory  of  life  after  death  to  see  why 
all  this  was  done.  Only  the  wealthy,  the  Pharaohs 
(or  kings)  and  nobles,  could  have  such  burial  places. 
The  poor  fellaheen,  as  now,  were  lost  in  the  sands 
of  the  desert.  Inside,  the  walls  are  beautifully  deco- 
rated, and  in  the  graves  themselves  have  been  found 
the  works  of  art  which  fill  the  museums  of  the 
world.  Every  nation  under  the  sun  has  pillaged 
these  places,  but  now  the  government  is  in  charge 
of  them.  We  have  a  passport,  and  a  guard  is  always 
present.  Nothing  can  be  taken  away.  The  best  of 
these  tombs  have  gates  and  locks.  For  centuries  they 
have  been  the  homes  first  of  the  early  Christians  and 
then  of  robbers.  This  village  of  Beni  Hassan  was 
entirely  destroyed  by  the  government  forty  years  ago 
—  it  was  so  full  of  thieves  and  robbers.  We  rode 

[30] 


VERY    ANCIENT   TOMBS    HEWN    FROM   SOLID   ROCK 
AT   BEN  I    HASSAN 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

into  a  pass  in  the  mountains  through  which  it  is  said 
Abraham  went  on  his  journey  to  Egypt  (see  the 
Bible ;  I  can't  quote  text).  After  a  busy  forenoon 
we  all  came  in,  having  enjoyed  our  first  donkey  ride 
exceedingly. 

The  donkey  boys  have  picked  up  a  little  English, 
and  one  says  "Good  Donkey,"  "Yankee  Doodle 
Dandy " ;  another,  "  My  good  donkey,  Telegraph 
and  Telephone";  another  calls  his  donkey  "Roose- 
velt." All  want  you  to  try  their  donkeys  and  all  want 
baksheesh.  The  old  sheik  has  a  big  stick,  and  if  they 
get  too  noisy  he  lays  it  about  him  right  and  left. 

Mr.  Gilson  is  taking  pictures  by  the  hundred,  so 
I  expect  we  will  have  a  great  show  some  time.  All 
are  well.  I  am  sure  we  are  seeing  this  country  un- 
der the  most  favorable  conditions  possible.  We  go 
when  and  where  we  please,  stop  when  we  want  to, 
and  go  on  when  all  are  ready.  It  is  a  most  instruc- 
tive trip  as  well  as  interesting.  All  say  it  is  a  great 
time  so  far. 

Yours  truly, 

L.  P. 


STREET   ALONG   THE    RIVER    BANK.,  ASSIU'I 


VIII 


On  board  T)ahabeah  "  /foggy 


February  7, 
MY  DEAR   Miss  HILL, 

I  was  very  much  pleased  yesterday,  when  I  went 
into  the  post  office  at  Assiut,  to  find  there  a  letter  in 
your  well-known  handwriting  forwarded  from  Cairo  ; 
also  two  from  Miss  Ayer.  We  stop  at  important 
places  and  direct  by  wire  to  have  our  mail  forwarded 
from  Cairo  so  as  to  meet  us.  Letters  look  good 
I  can  tell  you.  We  are  all  in  the  best  of  health 
and  spirits,  and  are  traveling  in  the  most  luxurious 
manner  that  the  country  affords.  Our  boat  is  like 
a  home,  and  the  scene  from  the  deck  changes  every 
minute.  The  river  winds  in  and  out  across  the  des- 
ert with  the  narrow  strip  of  green  on  each  side,  and 
as  we  go  only  about  four  or  five  miles  an  hour 

[33] 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

upstream  we  have  ample  time  to  look  everything  over 
very  carefully.  While  there  is  much  that  is  ancient 
to  see,  I  am  equally  interested  in  what  is  going  on 
now.  Every  foot  of  green  land  is  tilled  carefully. 
As  we  are  now  going  south  all  the  time,  the  need 
of  water  is  greater,  and  as  most  of  the  great  irriga- 
tion plants  are  nearer  the  north,  the  water  must  be 
drawn  up  in  shadoofs  by  hand  or  by  sakieh  turned 
by  oxen,  just  as  it  was  thousands  of  years  ago.  We 
see  hundreds  of  these  every  day.  At  Assiut  are  the 
great  mission  schools  of  the  Presbyterian  church. 
Richard  had  a  letter  to  the  president  of  the  boys' 
schools,  who  was  an  Andover  and  Yale  man.  I  was 
glad  to  visit  these  schools  and  the  American  Hospital 
which  is  there.  This  is  one  of  the  best  towns  in  Egypt 
and  shows  the  work  of  these  missions.  I  found  a  lot 
of  Ginn  and  Company's  books  in  use  there,  thanks  to 
our  Foreign  Department.  From  this  place  the  ancients 
built  a  large  canal  leading  back  into  the  desert  more 
than  a  hundred  miles  and  making  the  great  oasis 
Fayum.  The  English  have  rebuilt  this  canal  with  a 
great  dam  across  the  river,  through  which  we  have  to 
lock  up.  From  this  point  great  caravans  of  camels 
start  for  the  African  desert.  Some  fine  residences  of 
natives  and  foreigners  are  seen  along  the  river  banks, 

[34] 


A  VACATION   ON   THE   NILE 

showing  what  can  be  done  in  this  poverty-stricken 
country,  if  brain  and  capital  can  work  together.  It 
is  claimed  that  some  of  Joseph's  granaries  were 
located  here,  which  is  quite  probable,  for  it  must 
always  have  been  an  important  point.  At  our  lesson 
yesterday  Miss  Watson  read  the  story  of  Joseph  as 
told  in  the  Bible,  quite  new  to  some  of  us.  We  have 
enough  doing  to  keep  us  busy  and  are  ready  to  go  to 
bed  and  sleep  soundly  every  night,  as  the  waves  of  the 
river  lapping  against  the  boat  have  a  soothing  effect. 
Mrs.  Parkhurst  and  Richard  have  both  profited 
much  by  the  trip,  I  can  see,  and  every  one  says  the 
old  man  himself  is  pretty  lively  most  of  the  time. 
I  enjoy  watching  the  crew,  attired  as  they  are  in 
bright  turbans,  red,  yellow,  or  white,  with  their  long 
flowing  gowns.  When  five  or  six  of  them  go  aloft  to 
furl  the  sail  it  is  most  picturesque,  and  at  night  after 
we  tie  up  to  the  land  they  make  a  tent  out  of  the 
fore  part  of  the  ship,  have  a  little  fire  in  their  mud 
furnace  on  deck,  squat  around  it  and  eat  their  even- 
ing meal  out  of  a  common  dish  —  generally  with 
their  fingers.  Then  they  smoke  their  cigarettes,  and 
once  in  the  evening  get  out  a  long  pipe,  fill  it  with 
tobacco  and  a  little  hasheesh,  and  pass  it  around,  each 
man  taking  one  long  pull  at  it  and  no  more  till  next 

[35] 


A  VACATION    ON    THE   NILE 

night.  Then  they  begin  to  sing  or  chant.  One  man 
is  a  leader.  He  has  a  trombone,  and  another  has  a 
skin  drawn  over  a  gourd  as  a  drum.  They  keep 
good  time,  but  that  is  about  all.  After  a  while  they 
begin  to  clap  their  hands,  and  one,  the  boy,  gets  up 
and  dances.  All  begin  to  get  excited,  and  pretty  soon 
it  is  a  wild  sight.  They  keep  this  up  an  hour  or  so, 
the  captain,  however,  taking  no  part  but  solemnly 
looking  on.  We  give  them  a  few  coins  which  go 
into  a  common  treasury  and  help  supply  the  long 
pipe,  I  suppose.  They  do  not  drink ;  the  Koran 
forbids  it.  According  to  an  old  custom,  when  we 
reached  Assiut  we  gave  them  one  pound.  With  that 
they  buy  a  sheep.  We  are  to  do  it  again  when  we  get 
to  Assuan.  This  is  all  the  meat  they  get  on  the  trip. 
They  baked  bread  on  shore  before  they  left  Cairo, 
sliced  it  up,  and  spread  it  on  the  deck  to  dry  for 
two  or  three  days.  There  were  eight  or  ten  bushels 
of  it.  Now  it  is  in  the  hold,  hard  as  brick,  and 
will  last  the  whole  trip.  This  is  worked  into  their 
soup  and  vegetable  stews  and  is  their  principal  food. 
The  crew  have  their  own  cook  and  prepare  their 
own  meals.  They  are  hired  for  the  trip.  The  captain 
is  responsible  to  the  owner  for  the  ship,  and  to  the 
government  for  the  safety  of  his  passengers.  He  is 

[36] 


ENTRANCE    TO    JOSEPH'S    CANAL 


LOCK    AND    SECTION    OF    DAM    AT   ASSIUT 


A  VACATION    ON   THE    NILE 

quite  a  strong  character,  as  is  the  first  mate,  who 
steers  while  the  captain  squats  on  top  of  the  cook's 
galley  all  day  long,  keeping  a  sharp  lookout  for  sand 
bars,  which  are  very  numerous  and  continually  shift- 
ing from  one  side  to  the  other.  A  man  at  the  bow 
with  a  long  pole  watches  and  sounds  all  the  time. 
So  far  we  have  got  on  only  once,  a  very  good  rec- 
ord, as  we  see  boats  stuck  every  day.  The  water  is 
now  falling  and  is  about  half  down  to  low-water 
mark,  which  is  in  April  or  May.  We  had  one  lively 
experience  with  a  sand  storm  from  the  desert.  You 
have  read  of  them.  We  were  barely  able  to  reach 
a  mooring  and  make  port  when  it  struck  us  with 
great  force.  It  was  just  like  a  blinding  snowstorm. 
We  could  not  see  a  hundred  feet.  We  shut  all  win- 
dows, doors,  and  shutters,  and  it  was  almost  as  dark  as 
night.  I  went  on  deck  once  to  see  what  it  was  like. 
In  a  moment  my  clothes  were  completely  filled  with 
the  fine  sand.  Although  I  had  on  glasses,  my  eyes 
were  blinded,  my  ears  and  nose  were  filled  with  sand, 
and  I  was  glad  to  retreat.  The  crew  wrapped  them- 
selves in  their  flowing  robes  and  curled  up  on  the 
floor.  The  storm  lasted  about  four  hours  —  a  good 
thing  to  be  in  once.  It  took  us  a  day  to  get  the  sand  out 
of  the  boat.  Every  crevice  was  full  of  it  —  the  sails, 

[37] 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

rigging,  everything  filled  with  sand.  I  should  say  the 
wind  blew  from  forty  to  sixty  miles  per  hour.  We  went 
on  shore  after  the  storm  was  over  and  found  fields  of 
grain  with  four  inches  of  sand  plastered  all  over  them. 
The  camels  lie  down  and  bury  their  heads  in  the  sand 
when  they  have  to  meet  these  storms.  The  sand  cuts 
one's  face  like  a  whip.  We  hope  not  to  meet  another. 

Mr.  Gilson  and  the  boys  are  taking  pictures  by 
the  score.  While  I  am  not  in  charge,  and  do  not 
now  feel  the  responsibility  of  the  management,  I 
am  the  purser  and  have  about  five  quarts  of  silver 
money  to  deal  out  for  all  kinds  of  service.  We  buy 
vegetables,  chickens,  milk,  etc.,  each  day,  pay  for 
donkeys,  carriages,  guides,  and  a  tax  to  each  district 
we  pass  through.  We  generally  camp  near  a  village, 
and  the  sheik  sends  down  a  couple  of  men  with 
guns,  who  build  a  little  fire  on  shore,  squat  down 
beside  it,  and  stand  guard  to  keep  off  thieves  and 
robbers  (they  say).  These  we  also  pay  about  fifty 
cents  each  per  night,  and  a  little  baksheesh  to  the 
old  sheik.  But  I  must  close. 

I  hope  you  are  not  worrying  about  closing  the 
books  for  the  year.  Don't  hurry.  You  are  now  the 
boss  and  can  take  your  time.  Love  to  all. 

L.  P. 
[38] 


BUFFALO   COW    AND   CALF 


MARKET   DAY 


IX 


l^tver  —  Approaching  Luxor 

February  py  1912 
MY  DEAR  Miss  AVER, 

Our  trip  continues  to  be  in  every  way  a  constant 
delight.  We  enjoy  every  day  and  every  minute  of 
each  day.  This  is  the  way  to  see  this  country.  We 
are  close  to  the  people  all  the  time.  Every  minute 
the  scene  changes.  We  are  now  well  above  most  of 
the  large  irrigation  plants  and  see  the  natives  in  their 
primitive  condition.  The  season  is  more  advanced 
as  we  go  south.  The  crops  are  larger  and  the  need 
of  water  greater.  All  are  hard  at  work  lifting  up 
the  water  by  hand  with  the  shadoof,  hundreds  of 
which  line  the  river.  It  takes  now  three  lifts  to 
carry  from  the  river  to  a  point  high  enough  to  run 
back  over  the  land.  As  the  river  drops  it  will  take 
four,  then  five  or  six.  The  natives  lift  water  all  day, 

[39] 


A  VACATION   ON   THE   NILE 

and  for  a  day's  work  of  twelve  hours  get  about 
twenty-five  or  thirty  cents.  They  shout  and  sing 
and  seem  happy  and  contented  at  their  work. 

There  are  many  flocks  of  goats  and  sheep,  but 
the  raising  of  grain  and  sugar  cane  seems  to  be  the 
most  important  industry.  The  expense  of  clothing  a 
family  grows  less  as  one  goes  south,  and  at  this  point 
can  be  considered  almost  a  negligible  quantity. 

The  climate  is  certainly  superb  from  our  point  of 
view  —  not  a  cloud  in  the  sky,  cool  in  the  forenoon, 
then  warm,  almost  hot,  from  one  to  three,  then  cool 
again,  and  after  sundown  almost  cold.  If  I  sit  on 
deck  after  dark,  I  find  my  fur  coat  very  comfortable. 
In  fact,  no  thin  clothes  are  needed.  On  shore  we 
wear  our  helmet  hats,  and  in  the  afternoon  the  col- 
ored glasses  are  helpful.  It  is  an  ideal  life  for  a  lazy 
man,  and  I  have  enjoyed  it  very  much. 

Yesterday  the  river  ran  close  to  the  high  cliffs  of 
limestone  out  of  which  the  Ptolemies  quarried  their 
building  stone.  In  fact,  all  the  way  we  are  in  sight, 
on  one  side  or  the  other,  of  high  chains  of  moun- 
tains, and  sometimes  we  see  both  chains  —  tremen- 
dous, barren,  without  a  particle  of  vegetation,  like 
the  whole  country  where  the  waters  of  the  Nile  do 
not  reach.  I  do  not  wonder  that  the  old  Egyptians 

[40] 


GASOLINE    PUMP   AND   TANK   FOR    IRRIGATION 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

worshiped  the  Nile  and  the  sun.  I  should  be  tempted 
to  do  so  now,  if  I  lived  here.  In  these  cliffs  with 
our  glasses  we  can  see  hundreds  of  openings  to  the 
tombs,  for  all  felt  that  the  only  safe  place  to  put  the 
dead  was  in  these  cliffs.  All  other  places  might  be 
washed  away,  for  the  Nile  at  one  time  or  another 
shifted  its  course  from  one  range  of  mountains  to  the 
other,  and  we  can  see  that  it  is  changing  this  year. 

We  are  not  making  many  stops  going  up  the  river, 
except  to  visit  the  oldest  ruins,  as  we  want  to  get  to 
Assuan  before  it  is  too  hot.  When  we  come  down 
we  shall  visit  the  others,  taking  all  in  the  order  in 
which  they  were  built.  We  are  making  good  prog- 
ress and  shall  reach  the  end  of  our  route  by  the 
fifteenth.  We  can  run  down  much  faster,  but  shall 
make  more  stops. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gilson  make  fine  travelers.  He  is 
very  busy  taking  pictures  and  they  both  seem  to  be 
extremely  happy. 

We  have  a  splendid  table,  drink  nothing  but  bot- 
tled water  —  Poland  till  we  reached  Alexandria, 
since  then  Evian,  a  similar  European  water. 

Yesterday  we  met  a  steamer  with  the  English  flag 
at  half  mast  and  have  just  found  out  that  it  carried 
the  body  of  the  Duke  of  Fife,  who  died  at  Assuan. 

[4-] 


A   VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

We  have  not  seen  an  American  paper  since  we 
left  New  York,  and  only  one  or  two  English  papers 
at  Gibraltar  and  Cairo,  so  we  are  literally  in  the 
Dark  Continent,  so  far  as  news  is  concerned. 

As  I  write,  the  dahabeah  goes  aground  the  second 
time  since  we  started,  but  we  are  soon  off.  We  have 
just  passed  a  little  town  ;  the  houses  are  made  of  mud, 
as  most  of  them  are  in  all  the  villages.  It  is  market 
day,  and  we  ran  in  close  to  shore  and  saw  the  fella- 
heen all  gathered  in  the  open  place  next  to  the  river, 
selling  and  bartering  sheep,  goats,  donkeys,  grain,  veg- 
etables, etc.  With  their  many-colored  garments  and 
turbans  it  was  a  most  interesting  and  picturesque  sight. 
The  people  living  along  the  banks  of  the  river  are 
mostly  of  a  copper  color,  some  are  black,  and  once 
in  a  while  of  a  lighter  strain,  but  the  fellaheen  do  not 
intermarry  very  much  with  whites. 

The  evenings  are  simply  gorgeous.  The  colors 
are  beyond  description,  especially  the  coloring  in  the 
east  as  the  sun  goes  down  in  the  west. 

We  are  all  feeling  well  rested  and  I  am  sure  the 
trip  is  doing  every  one  a  vast  amount  of  good.  Miss 
Watson  is  very  entertaining  in  her  daily  talks,  and 
when  we  come  to  a  place  we  are  well  prepared  to 
appreciate  what  we  see.  I  made  no  mistake  when  I 

[42] 


A  VACATION   ON   THE   NILE 

engaged  her.  She  is  a  whole  team,  and  without  such 
a  person  we  could  not  make  this  trip  with  safety  or 
profit.  I  have  no  responsibility  whatever  except  to 
put  up  the  cash.  It  is  quite  an  outfit  to  look  after. 

To-day  I  saw  for  the  first  time  a  little  gasoline 
engine  and  a  pump  rigged  up  to  lift  the  water  out 
of  the  river.  I  prophesy  that  in  ten  years  the  sha- 
doof will  be  a  curiosity.  One  of  these  engines  will  do 
the  work  of  forty  men.  So  much  water  is  now  wasted 
in  handling.  The  great  problem  here  is  water.  Not 
a  drop  falls  in  the  year,  and  without  it  from  now  on 
the  crops  are  burned  up  by  the  sun. 

So  far  I  have  given  fully  as  much  thought  to  the 
modern  conditions  as  to  the  ancient ;  but  to-morrow 
we  reach  the  site  of  ancient  Thebes  and  there  we  shall 
go  back  three  or  four  thousand  years  and  commune 
with  the  old  fellows  who  held  the  fort  at  that  time. 

I  hope  you  are  all  well,  and  am  bound  to  think 
you  are.  I  have  not  thought  of  business  a  moment 
since  I  left,  and  don't  mean  to.  I  know  it  is  in  good 
hands.  Hope  Miss  Hill  will  not  work  too  hard.  I  feel 
a  little  guilty  in  being  away  these  February  days,  but 
she  can  do  it  all  right,  if  she  does  not  worry  or  hurry. 

Love  to  everybody  from  all  in  the  party. 

L.  P. 
[43] 


PROPYLON,    TEMPLE   OK    KARNAK 


• 


tyver —  Passing  through 
African  and  ^Arabian  mountains 

February  fjj,  1912 
DEAR  FRIENDS  AT  HOME, 

We  are  nearing  the  end  of  our  long  journey.  Our 
crew  started  at  five  this  morning,  hoping  to  get 
through  to  Assuan  to-night.  We  shall  stay  there 
two  or  three  days  and  then  turn  our  faces  homeward. 
Very  much  to  my  surprise  the  time  on  the  river  has 
not  seemed  long.  We  have  been  busy  every  day ; 
just  busy  enough  —  no  hurry.  The  scene  changes 
every  minute.  There  is  no  dust  (till  we  go  ashore, 
when  it  is  all  dust),  noise,  or  confusion.  There  is 
room  enough  on  the  decks  for  twenty-five  people 
without  crowding.  Lounges  and  easy-chairs,  orien- 
tal rugs  and  cushions  make  the  day  most  comfort- 
able. We  have  made  several  excursions  to  temples 

[45] 


A  VACATION   ON   THE   NILE 

and  places  of  interest,  and  have  come  to  be  quite 
expert  donkey  riders.  Yesterday,  on  our  way  to  the 
Temple  of  Edfu,  we  were  obliged  to  ride  through  a 
village.  It  was  market  day,  and  such  a  sight  I  never 
beheld.  The  town  was  crowded  with  natives,  all  sell- 
ing and  bartering.  Everywhere  were  to  be  seen  sheep, 
goats,  camels,  donkeys,  all  kinds  of  pottery,  and  provi- 
sions, with  dust  and  filth  over  all.  A  man  went  ahead 
of  us  with  a  long  whip  and  thrashed  the  natives  to  one 
side  and  the  other,  and  we  wound  our  way,  single  file, 
through  the  crowd.  They  were  a  wild-looking  set, 
many  Nubians  and  Ethiopians  from  the  desert,  as  well 
as  Arabs.  The  ladies  were  glad  to  be  out  of  it.  The 
sheik  of  the  town  sent  two  men  with  us  as  a  guard. 

This  morning  the  two  ranges  of  mountains  which 
we  have  seen  all  the  way  up,  sometimes  quite  near, 
sometimes  ten  miles  away,  come  together  at  the 
water's  edge  —  one  on  the  east,  the  other  on  the 
west.  At  this  point  the  Nile  worked  its  way  through 
from  Central  Africa  and  made  Egypt,  which  is  not 
over  ten  miles  wide  on  the  average  —  that  is,  of 
fertile  land  —  and  perhaps  from  fifteen  to  thirty  be- 
tween the  ranges. 

We  were  two  days  at  Luxor,  where  I  was  surprised 
to  find  three  or  four  beautiful  hotels,  one  surpassed 

[46] 


LUXOR  — HOTEL   AT   RIGHT,  ANCIENT   TEMPLE   AT  LEFT 


MAIN  STREET,  LUXOR 


: 


AVENUE   OF   RAMS  — SPHYNXES 


A   VACATION   ON   THE   NILE 

by  none  in  the  White  Mountains,  except  Bretton 
Woods.  The  season  here  is  about  four  months  and 
is  now  at  its  height.  Several  large  river  boats,  like 
the  Mississippi  boats,  come  to  Assuan  from  Cairo  and 
make  this  their  principal  stop.  Ancient  Thebes  was 
here.  We  tied  up  on  the  shore  opposite  the  town, 
and  at  night  the  hotels  with  their  brilliant  lights 
made  a  beautiful  sight.  The  river  here  is  a  short 
half  mile  wide.  We  have  a  fine  large  rowboat  which 
will  take  the  whole  party,  and  with  our  black,  bare- 
footed crew  of  six,  with  their  white  turbans  and  blue 
shirts,  with  one  extra  man  to  lead  the  singing  (for 
they  want  to  sing  when  they  row  or  pull  at  the  sails), 
it  was  great  fun  to  cross  and  recross,  especially  at  sun- 
down. Our  little  American  flag  at  the  stern  looked 
pretty  good  to  us  as  we  went  in  amongst  the  Turkish 
and  English  boats  which  predominated  on  the  river. 
So  far  we  have  seen  but  three  or  four  American 
flags  on  the  river,  and  whenever  one  comes  in  sight 
we  salute  it  most  heartily.  There  are  some  steamers 
of  the  Hamburg-American  line  that  always  salute 
us,  but  most  of  the  large  boats  are  Cook's,  that  fly  the 
Turkish  and  English  flags  and  pass  sullenly  by.  We 
saluted  one  or  two,  but  they  took  no  notice  of  us,  so 
now  we  go  on  with  our  flag  at  the  top  of  the  mast. 

[47] 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

Since  leaving  Luxor  the  weather  has  become  hot  in 
the  middle  of  the  day,  but  at  about  four  it  cools  down 
and  the  evenings  are  simply  perfect.  Last  night  the 
colors  in  the  east  at  sunset  were  the  finest  yet.  The 
sand  is  yellow  here  and  the  mountains  have  a  grayish- 
pink  tint.  All  this  affects  the  coloring  in  the  sky.  I 
hope  to  find  a  painting  that  will  approach  it.  Talbot 
Kelly  is  at  Assuan  and  I  want  to  see  what  he  can  do. 
If  he  can  approach  the  real,  I  shall  be  ready  for  a 
trade. 

Miss  Watson's  talks  each  day  at  11.30  are  most 
entertaining  and  instructive,  and  when  we  reach  a 
place  we  know  how  it  fits  into  the  general  scheme. 
I  expected  to  see  ruins  and  massive  things,  but  had 
no  idea  of  the  marvelous  beauty  that  has  been  cov- 
ered up  all  these  centuries  in  the  sands  and  under  the 
mud  huts  of  the  natives.  They  are  at  work  now  at 
Luxor  excavating.  I  saw  forty  men  on  ropes  trying 
to  move  a  single  stone  which  had  toppled  over  and 
was  covered  with  debris.  What  an  army  it  must  have 
taken  to  quarry  these  stones,  move  them  many  miles 
down  the  river,  and  then  set  them  in  position  to  form 
these  magnificent  temples  !  Some  of  the  stones,  when 
uncovered,  show  a  polish  as  fine  and  beautiful  as  any 
that  could  be  found  in  Mt.  Auburn.  Much  of  that 

[48] 


p 


?  £? 

HEP 


TiMnr  v,  /i!,r«»M^  • 


11 


THIi    LONE    COLUMN.    KARNAK. 


OBELISK.  TEMPLE   OF   KARNAK 


WEST    BANK   OF    THE    NILE    AT    ASSUAN 


-i.  -  • 

f  ; 


. 

. 


A  VACATION   ON   THE   NILE 

most  beautiful  work  was  smashed  up  for  pure  devil- 
try, first  by  the  Persians,  when  they  conquered  the 
land,  and  again  much  more  by  the  early  Christians, 
who  felt  that  the  work  of  the  pagans  must  be  de- 
stroyed at  any  cost ;  so  they  climbed  up  on  the  walls 
and  dug  out  the  faces  of  hundreds  of  beautiful  fig- 
ures, but  left  the  rest  in  good  condition.  Once  in  a 
while  they  missed  one,  and  so  we  see  what  all  might 
have  been.  Here  and  there,  after  all  these  years,  are 
bits  of  lovely  coloring  —  blue,  red,  and  green — which 
show  how  the  interiors  of  all  the  temples  were  orig- 
inally decorated.  It  exceeds  my  expectations  in  every 
particular. 

We  are  now  reading  the  Ginn  Sling  a  second 
time,  one  number  a  day,  after  four  o'clock  tea,  on 
deck.  All  enjoy  it  much ;  a  great  stunt,  and  a  fine 
team  at  home.  Everybody  is  perfectly  well  and  we 
all  feel  that  we  owe  much  to  Miss  Watson  and  Mr. 
Polemy,  who  is  a  Greek  and  in  charge  of  crew,  boat, 
donkeys,  mail,  food,  etc. 

Hope  this  will  find  all  well.    Love  to  all. 

L.  P. 


[49] 


THE    PILOT 


BAKSHEESH 


JC. 


RAPIDS    BELOW   THE    DAM 


CANAL   LEADING   TO   LOCKS 


•f£TftEtf  £lt  ;«!.^f^A>T^l^- 

, 


.'. 


XI 

T)ahabeah  "  Happy  T>ays  " 
'River  —  Homeward  bound 

February  20,  1912 
DEAR  FRIENDS  AT  HOME, 

Our  last  day's  run  up  river  was  in  many  respects 
the  most  interesting  of  all.  We  had  camped  about 
ten  miles  below  Assuan  overnight,  and  with  a  start 
at  daylight  were  up  there  bright  and  early.  This  is 
the  end  of  Egypt,  and  here  begin  about  four  miles  of 
rapids  called  the  First  Cataract.  (There  is  another 
about  two  hundred  miles  further  up.)  Nubia  begins 
here.  At  the  foot  of  the  rapids  is  the  town  where 
again  we  find  three  or  four  fine  hotels  open  only  in 
the  winter,  one,  called  the  Cataract,  being  very  hand- 
somely located  overlooking  the  rapids.  All  steamers 
stop  here  and  all  sailing  boats  except  those  going 
on  to  Wady  Haifa  or  Khartum.  We,  however,  got 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

permission  of  the  owner  of  our  boat  to  take  it  up 
through  the  rapids  and  above  the  great  dam  at  the 
head  of  the  rapids.  After  a  good  deal  of  parleying 
with  the  sheik  of  the  town  we  took  on  two  pilots, 
one  for  the  boat  and  one  for  our  tug,  and  four  extra 
men,  and  pushed  on  upstream.  The  sailors  had  been 
burning  incense  for  hours  to  protect  them  from  the 
rocks.  It  was  a  most  interesting  ride  and  we  did  not 
touch  a  rock.  Our  pilot  was  as  fine  a  specimen  of 
physical  man  as  I  ever  saw,  fully  six  feet,  as  straight 
as  an  arrow,  not  an  extra  pound  of  flesh  on  him,  and 
as  keen  as  a  hawk.  He  handled  the  boat  in  a  mas- 
terly fashion.  After  the  run  I  shook  him  by  the 
hand  and  he  salaamed  nearly  to  the  ground.  There 
are  six  locks  to  go  through  to  get  up  past  the  dam, 
five  of  them  in  one  block.  We  were  lifted  sixty- 
three  feet,  and  next  year  twenty-two  feet  are  to  be 
added,  making  eighty-five  feet  in  all.  The  dam  is 
one  and  a  quarter  miles  long  and  would  make  old 
Rameses  sit  up  and  look  if  he  were  to  come  along. 
The  chief  engineer,  a  Scotchman,  was  very  courteous 
to  us.  He  has  been  here  twelve  years,  ever  since  the 
dam  was  started,  and  gave  us  much  interesting  infor- 
mation. The  great  gates  of  the  locks  weigh  fifty 
tons  and  move  like  a  clock.  They  are  just  putting 

[52] 


DAM    FROM    BELOW 


SECTION   OF   COMPLETED   DAM    FROM    ABOVE 


--,-\  -.  ^%<<< 

LOl/j 


PUTTING   ON    THE    LAST   COURSE 


GATES   CONTROLLED   BY   ELECTRIC   MOTOR 


NATIVE    BOATS   GO   THROUGH   THE    LOCKS   WITH    US 


WHOLE    FAMILIES   LIVE    FOR   WEEKS   ON   THESE    BOATS 


. 


\ 


ENTRANCE   TO    LOCKS    FROM    ABOVE.    SHOWING   MOVABLE    BRIDGE 


INTERIOR   VIEW   OF   TEMPLE   OF   PHIL^E 


A  VACATION    ON    THE    NILE 

the  last  course  on  the  dam.  At  one  time  he  said 
there  were  thirteen  thousand  natives  at  work ;  how- 
ever, they  were  all  paid,  while  the  old  temples  were 
built  by  slaves  —  some  progress  in  that  respect  at  least. 

After  we  passed  the  dam  we  ran  up  the  river  a 
few  miles  to  see  the  country.  The  mountains  are 
here  parallel  to  the  river  and  near  to  it,  and  make  a 
natural  reservoir,  perhaps  one  half  to  one  mile  wide 
as  far  as  we  could  see,  and  when  the  dam  is  finished 
the  water  will  go  back  on  a  level  to  the  foot  of  the 
Second  Cataract  when  the  lake  is  full  —  a  tremen- 
dous body  of  water.  The  lake  will  be  filled  this  fall 
for  the  first  time  and  then  let  out  gradually  next 
summer  to  keep  the  river  at  a  higher  level,  and  so 
help  the  poor  shadoof  man  —  the  greatest  piece  of 
work  I  have  ever  seen. 

We  finally  gave  the  signal  to  turn  about,  gave 
three  cheers  for  the  American  flag,  and  headed  for 
Oak  Knoll  and  Quechee.  We  ran  along  close  to  the 
upper  edge  of  the  dam  and  from  on  deck  could  see 
just  how  the  work  was  being  done.  The  engineering 
force  is  Scotch  entirely ;  a  few  Italians  handle  the  ce- 
ment, and  the  natives  do  the  rest.  The  pay  of  the 
natives  is  about  thirty  cents  per  day  -  -  better  than  the 
old  days  with  the  overseers'  whip  cracking  over  them, 

[53] 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

however.    Of  all  their  taskmasters  —  and  they  have 
had  many  from  the  days  of  Cambyses  and  Alexander 

—  the  English  are  by  far  the  most  humane,  and  will, 
I  am  sure,  if  let  alone,  do  much  for  this  people. 

Just  above  the  dam,  within  half  a  mile,  is  Philae, 

—  the  "  Pearl  of  Egypt  "  as  it  was  called,  —  or  what 
there  is  left  of  it.    It  was  a  rocky  island  with  stately 
palms  around  the  shore,  and  a  small  but  handsome 
temple  on  the  side  hill.    The  water  has  almost  cov- 
ered the  palm  trees,  and  we  go  into  the  door  of  the 
temple  in  our  rowboats.    This  is  the  last  year  one 
can  do  even  that,  for  with  twenty-two  feet  more  of 
water  it  will  be  all  covered,  or  nearly  so,  in  the  win- 
ter time  when  Europeans  are  here. 

It  was  most  night  when  we  were  ready  to  run  the 
rapids,  but  the  Scotchmen  opened  the  locks  for  us 
(they  are  usually  closed  at  three)  and  we  went  down 
flying.  We  pulled  up  on  Elephantine  Island  opposite 
Assuan  at  sunset  —  a  day  we  shall  not  soon  forget. 

The  next  morning  we  set  out  for  the  great  quar- 
ries, for  this  is  where  the  granite  is  found  from 
which  the  ancients  made  all  their  statues,  sarcophagi, 
altars,  and  obelisks.  The  obelisk  in  Central  Park, 
New  York,  came  originally  from  here.  The  temples 
were  generally  made  of  sandstone  or  limestone,  found 

[54] 


THE   QUARRY  AT  ASSUAN 


prf 


UNFINISHED   OBELISK 


4i>e 

n 


BISHAREEN    GIRLS  — GYPSIES    OF    THE    DESERT 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

further  down  the  river,  and  much  easier  to  work. 
A  great  obelisk  partly  made  still  lies  in  the  quarry, 
and  the  holes  in  which  the  workmen  put  wooden 
wedges,  then  poured  water  in  to  swell  them,  and  so 
split  the  rocks,  are  still  to  be  seen.  The  granite  is 
most  beautiful,  some  quite  dark  and  some  rather  pink. 
All  polishes  to  perfection.  There  is  enough  left  to 
duplicate  all  the  work  of  the  Egyptians  a  thousand 
times,  for  it  reaches  nearly  over  to  the  Red  Sea,  two 
hundred  miles  away.  Here  on  the  west  side  is  found 
the  yellowest  sand  you  ever  saw,  and  so  fine  that  it 
will  sift  through  the  finest  of  women's  garments  when 
the  wind  blows.  On  the  east  side,  however,  the  sand 
is  gray.  I  suspect  these  great  masses  of  sand  affect 
the  colors  in  the  sky  at  sunset,  which  are  our  daily 
admiration. 

The  Egyptians  were  nature  worshipers  and  se- 
lected sometimes  an  animal  to  represent  life.  At  one 
time  they  chose  the  ram ;  and  within  ten  years,  just 
back  of  where  we  tied  up,  a  set  of  small  tombs  cut 
in  the  solid  rock  were  found,  with  the  opening  at 
the  top,  and  a  finely  cut  cover  over  each  one,  which 
contained  a  mummified  ram.  These  rams  have  been 
carried  to  Cairo,  where  we  expect  to  see  them.  The 
tombs  are  left  as  they  were  uncovered.  There  were 

[55] 


A  VACATION   ON   THE   NILE 

perhaps  twenty  of  these.  If  each  ram  lived  ten  years, 
that  means  two  hundred  years  of  sheep  worship.  The 
Egyptians  believed  also  that  there  was  a  God  of  Good 
and  one  of  Evil.  The  former  was  represented  by  the 
sun,  the  latter  at  one  time  by  a  crocodile.  Their  tem- 
ples were  usually  built  to  the  God  of  Good,  but  one 
old  fellow  thought  he  would  be  on  the  safe  side,  so 
he  built  one  at  Kom  Ombo,  which  we  stopped  to  see 
yesterday,  one  half  to  each,  and  in  the  Evil  half  we 
saw  a  half  dozen  mummified  crocodiles  which  were 
preserved  in  a  sort  of  little  chapel  at  the  entrance. 
We  have  seen  men  in  our  day  who  have  tried  to 
work  both  parties  at  the  same  time.  There  is  noth- 
ing new. 

I  am  continually  amazed  at  the  quality  of  this  early 
work.  It  would  puzzle  our  best  workmen  to  equal 
it,  with  our  modern  machinery  to  help  them. 

We  visited  near  Assuan  a  desert  tribe  something 
like  our  gypsies.  They  were  a  wild-looking  lot, 
nearly  naked,  with  their  hair  braided  and  greased, 
dirty  and  filthy  beyond  description,  rings  in  their 
noses  and  ears,  and  faces  painted  all  kinds  of  colors. 

Each  day  brings  something  new.  It  is  a  great  time 
for  us  all.  For  a  few  days  the  wind  has  been  north, 
and  it  is  very  cool  even  at  midday  and  the  nights  cold 

[56] 


KOM   OMBO  — WE   ADMIRE   THE   BEAUTIFUL   COLUMNS 


A  VACATION   ON   THE   NILE 

—  their  winter.  My  old  fur  coat  went  on  this  morn- 
ing as  I  went  on  deck  about  sunrise.  We  have  about 
as  many  places  to  stop  at  going  down ;  we  planned 
to  take  them  in  historical  order  if  possible,  and  also 
to  make  our  excursions  in  the  forenoon  when  it  is 
cooler ;  so  while  we  can  run  much  faster,  it  will  be 
March  4  or  5  I  think  before  we  reach  Cairo.  Love 
to  all  and  believe  me, 

Most  sincerely  yours, 

L.P. 
P.S.   Found  lots  of  mail  at  Assuan. 


[57] 


j 


--• 


XII 

On  the  Style  below  Luxor  —  Qoing  down 

February  24,  1912 

DEAR   Miss  AVER  AND  FRIENDS  AT  HOME, 

Was  glad  to  get  your  letter,  February  2,  and  one 
from  Miss  Hill  when  we  arrived  at  Luxor.  This  is  a 
modern  town  built  along  the  east  bank  of  the  river, 
with  the  mighty  ruins  of  Thebes  behind  it,  and  op- 
posite, perhaps  three  miles  away,  the  mortuary  tem- 
ples of  the  old  kings.  Just  back  of  these  in  the 
heart  of  the  mountains  are  found  the  last  resting 
places  of  these  mighty  monarchs ;  for  mighty  they 
must  have  been,  and  able,  to  have  devised  and  exe- 
cuted these  works  which  in  some  respects  are  to-day 
in  as  perfect  condition  as  they  were  three  thousand 
years  ago.  To  appreciate  what  their  works  mean 
one  must  understand  the  rudiments  of  their  religion  ; 

[59] 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

then  all  is  plain.  To  them  the  world  was  flat ;  the 
sun  was  their  greatest  benefactor,  the  Nile  next. 
Why  should  they  not  worship  these  ?  The  sun  went 
down  at  night  and  in  some  way  traveled  under  the 
earth  to  the  east.  Why  not  by  a  great  river  like  the 
Nile,  full  of  monsters  as  was  the  Nile  then  full  of 
crocodiles  ?  The  soul  of  man  must  pass  over  the  same 
course  and  would  finally  come  out  to  life  again  like 
the  sun,  its  father,  if  it  could  pass  the  terrible  journey 
in  safety.  Their  belief  in  immortality  must  have  been 
the  controlling  factor  in  all  that  they  did,  for  they 
believed  also  that  the  soul  must  have  the  same  body 
or  else  it  could  find  no  habitation,  hence  the  des- 
perate effort  to  preserve  the  body ;  they  must  place 
beside  it  food  and  money  and  valuables  of  all  descrip- 
tion to  last  on  the  long  journey.  These  also  must  be 
put  where  robbers  could  not  find,  hence  these  won- 
derful subterranean  chambers,  almost  palaces,  which 
are  known  as  the  Tombs  of  the  Kings.  In  the  upper 
part  of  the  country  these  were  dug  out  of  the  solid 
rock  of  the  mountains ;  but  down  toward  the  Delta 
there  were  no  mountains  near,  and  as  the  river  went 
here  and  there  as  it  willed  from  year  to  year,  some- 
thing had  to  be  built  to  take  the  place  of  these  moun- 
tain chambers ;  hence  the  Pyramids,  which  are  built 


A   VACATION   ON   THE   NILE 

over  and  around  the  sarcophagus  of  the  ruler,  for 
each  king  started  at  once  to  prepare  his  last  resting 
place,  using  all  the  men  and  wealth  at  his  disposal 
to  do  this.  In  general  he  seemed  to  have  two  objects 
in  life :  to  build  great  temples  ostensibly  dedicated 
to  the  worship  of  his  god,  but  also  to  use  the  walls 
of  these  to  tell  the  story  of  his  great  deeds ;  and 
second,  to  build  his  tomb  in  which  to  live  during 
his  temporary  absence  from  earth.  And  these  two 
ideas  gave  us  the  temples,  which  are  almost  all  on 
the  east  side  of  the  river,  and  the  tombs,  more  gen- 
erally on  the  west  side.  Tombs  of  lesser  importance, 
probably  of  the  nobles  or  wealthy  men,  are  found  in 
the  mountains  on  the  east  side.  We  see  many  of  the 
openings  of  these  on  the  side  hills  as  we  pass  near 
the  mountains.  Some  are  not  more  than  small  niches 
in  the  wall  and  some  are  the  size  of  a  small  room. 
We  spent  about  three  days  at  Luxor  coming  down, 
and  made  an  excursion  each  forenoon  to  these  old 
resting  places  of  the  great  rulers  of  Egypt.  There 
are  about  forty  of  them,  and  one  is  now  being  dug 
out.  A  Mr.  Davis  of  Newport,  R.I.,  a  wealthy 
man,  is  doing  the  work.  We  met  and  talked  with 
him.  He  has  made  some  wonderful  finds  in  the  last 
few  years.  The  government  gives  him  a  room  in  the 

[6,] 


A   VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

Museum  at  Cairo,  where  we  expect  to  see  much 
that  he  has  found.  All  these  tombs  have  grated  iron 
doors  at  the  entrance,  and  are  locked  and  guarded 
like  all  the  temples.  When  we  start  at  Cairo  we 
are  given  a  license  (six  dollars  each)  to  enter  all 
such  places.  The  authorities  are  very  particular. 
Every  person  must  have  a  license  or  he  can't  go 
in.  While  each  of  these  tombs  has  its  own  individ- 
uality, in  general  they  are  much  alike.  The  en- 
trances are  at  the  base  of  a  high  cliff  and  are  entirely 
covered  by  stone  which  has  fallen  down  during  the 
ages.  One  of  the  entrances  was  accidentally  discov- 
ered some  years  ago.  Since  then  excavations  have 
been  made  along  the  base  of  the  cliff  and  one  after 
another  of  these  tombs  has  been  uncovered.  I  will  try 
to  describe  one.  The  entrance  was  ten  feet  square,  and 
the  tunnel  was  that  size  all  the  way,  all  solid  lime- 
stone. It  pitched  downhill  at  a  steep  angle  for  fifty 
or  sixty  feet ;  there  was  a  level  room  perhaps  thirty 
feet  square ;  then  the  tunnel  led  down  again  to  an- 
other room,  and  so  on  for  three  hundred  and  twenty- 
eight  feet,  making  a  turn  almost  at  right  angles  on 
the  way,  and  frequently  starting  in  straight  ahead 
with  a  false  passage  for  a  little  way  to  deceive  the 
robbers.  Each  room  was  most  beautifully  decorated 

[62] 


; 


WE    TAKE    CARRIAGES    FOR    TOMBS   OF    THE    ICINGS 


WE    PREFER   TO   WALK. 


- 


ENTRANCE    TO    TOMB    OF    A    KING 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

in  colors  —  blue,  red,  and  yellow  —  with  life-size  pic- 
tures of  the  king,  his  family,  his  soldiers,  his  cattle, 
his  boats,  and  with  all  the  processes  of  farming,  boat- 
ing, hunting,  etc.  —  all  as  perfect  and  beautiful  as  the 
day  they  were  made.  Here  were  stored  the  food  and 
precious  jewels,  gold,  etc.,  and  finally,  deep  down  in 
the  heart  of  the  mountain,  was  the  chamber  or  sep- 
ulcher  of  the  king.  This  room  was  at  least  forty  feet 
square,  fifteen  feet  high,  with  a  vaulted  ceiling  painted 
blue,  studded  with  small  golden  crosses  to  imitate  the 
stars.  In  the  middle  of  this  room  was  a  deep  pit  ten 
feet  below  the  floor  and  twenty  feet  square,  and  rest- 
ing in  the  middle  of  this  was  the  massive  stone  sar- 
cophagus, made  in  two  pieces,  each  about  three  feet 
thick.  The  lower  one  was  hollowed  out,  and  into  it 
the  coffin  was  placed,  and  then  the  cover,  weighing 
many  tons,  dropped  over  it.  The  sarcophagus  came 
from  the  quarries  of  Assuan,  as  one  could  see  by  the 
nature  of  the  stone.  The  cover  had  been  taken  off 
and  set  near  by,  and  there  lay  the  mummy  of  the  old 
king  with  the  wrappings  removed  from  his  face,  in 
no  way  repulsive,  but  for  all  the  world  like  bronze. 
His  features  were  calm  and  peaceful,  and  as  the  in- 
ner room  is  now  lighted  by  electricity  (from  a  small 
plant  erected  near  by  to  light  about  a  half  dozen  of 


A  VACATION    ON    THE   NILE 

the  most  important  tombs)  it  was  possible  to  see 
everything  in  the  room  with  great  clearness.  When 
all  had  been  done,  each  of  these  passages  was  filled 
up  with  the  broken  stone  which  had  been  taken  out, 
and  the  builders  must  have  felt  that  the  king  was 
well  hidden,  as  indeed  he  was  for  a  long  time.  It  has 
been  a  tremendous  task  to  clear  out  the  tombs  that 
have  been  found.  There  may  be  many  more  not  yet 
discovered,  but  Mr.  Davis  thinks  he  is  now  in  the 
last  one  of  the  royal  family.  In  another  locality 
are  some  tombs  of  the  queens,  and  the  decorations 
in  these,  showing  the  dresses  of  the  queen  and  scenes 
from  her  home  and  life,  are  the  most  delicate  and 
perfect  of  all.  The  world  must  have  been  very  old 
at  that  time  to  have  developed  such  work. 

I  hope  you  will  pardon  this  long  letter.  As  it  is 
fresh  in  my  mind,  I  want  to  record  what  I  saw  and 
my  impressions.  O  for  a  stenographer  !  We  are  still 
having  a  most  lovely  ride  on  the  river.  We  slip 
down  with  the  current  very  rapidly.  The  life  on 
deck  is  simply  perfect  these  warm  sunny  days.  We 
have  had  but  two  hot  days,  and  then  the  heat  was 
excessive  only  for  a  few  hours  at  midday. 

I  met  Mr.  Talbot  Kelly  at  Luxor  and  I  hope  to 
bring  home  some  of  his  work. 

[64] 


A   VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

To-day  we  are  passing  great  fields  of  poppies,  which 
have  come  into  bloom  since  we  went  up.  The  river  is 
falling.  It  now  takes  a  series  of  four  shadoof  men  to 
lift  the  water.  When  we  went  up  it  took  but  three. 

Miss  Watson's  talks  are  most  entertaining  and  in- 
structive, and  she  knows  the  meaning  of  most  that 
we  see  on  the  walls  of  the  tombs  and  temples.  Our 
life  on  the  boat  is  most  enjoyable,  and  I  begin  to  feel 
that  five  weeks  will  pass  before  I  am  one  bit  tired  of 
it.  Mr.  Gilson  is  getting  a  fine  lot  of  pictures  of  the 
ancient  as  well  as  the  modern.  I  feel  that  the  trip 
is  most  instructive,  entertaining,  and  restful.  I  never 
knew  such  a  time  in  my  life.  But  if  one  were  to 
come  here  without  preparation,  without  some  one 
who  knows  the  way,  and  without  a  good  bank  bal- 
ance to  work  with,  it  might  be  different.  I  am 
thankful  for  it  all  and  wish  you  and  all  my  friends 
could  enjoy  it  as  I  have. 

Love  to  all, 

L.  P. 


[65] 


• 


XIII 


'Rjver,  one  hundred  miles  from  fairo 

Qoing  downstream 

{March  /,  1912 
DEAR  FRIENDS  AT  HOME, 

We  are  having  just  a  lovely  time  running  down 
the  river.  The  prevailing  winds  at  this  season  are 
from  the  north,  which  helped  us  going  up,  but  com- 
ing down  we  depend  largely  upon  the  tug  and  the 
current,  which  is  quite  strong  all  the  way.  It  is  truly 
a  mighty  stream.  The  weather  has  been  perfect  ; 
dry,  warm  —  not  too  warm  except  two  days  going 
up  ;  nights  cool  ;  mornings  cold  ;  not  a  cloud  in 
sight,  and  the  late  afternoons  and  evenings  enjoyable 
beyond  my  power  to  describe.  We  are  now  having 
our  second  moon,  which  adds  much  to  our  enjoyment, 
the  coloring  of  the  sky  at  night  being  my  special  de- 
light. Quite  frequently  we  run  in  the  evenings  until 

[67] 


A  VACATION   ON   THE'  NILE 

nine  o'clock,  when  the  moon  makes  it  possible  for 
the  crew  to  see,  for  the  river  is  full  of  sand  bars  and 
is  constantly  changing.  The  lapping  of  the  waters 
against  the  side  of  the  boat  makes  it  the  best  place 
to  sleep  that  I  ever  knew.  Eight  and  ten  hours  each 
night  is  about  my  average.  Altogether  it  is  the  most 
restful  and  at  the  same  time  entertaining  trip  of  my 
life.  I  was  quite  fearful  of  that  five  weeks  on  the 
boat,  but  it  is  nearly  over  and  I  have  not  been  uneasy 
a  minute.  Coming  down  we  had  a  little  more  time 
to  observe  carefully  and  reflect,  as  the  objects  were 
becoming  familiar.  The  river  is  alive  with  the  work 
of  the  natives.  From  our  deck  we  have  seen  about 
all  there  is,  and  we  have  taken  trips  enough  away 
from  the  river  to  get  a  good  idea  of  the  farming  and 
the  life  of  the  country.  We  see  work  being  done  in 
exactly  the  same  way  as  it  is  pictured  on  the  walls  of 
the  temples  erected  three  thousand  years  ago.  But 
a  change  is  near.  Western  civilization  and  methods 
are  seen  on  the  edges,  and  I  think  the  English  will 
give  the  poor  fellah  more  of  a  show  than  he  has 
ever  had. 

We  had  a  most  interesting  day  at  Abydos,  the 
ancient  sacred  burial  place  of  all  Egypt ;  in  fact, 
burials  are  still  being  made  there  almost  daily. 

[68] 


m 


EXCAVATIONS    AT   ABYDOS 


ENTRANCE   TO  AN  ANCIENT  TEMPLE    (OSIREION)    HAS  JUST 
BEEN    UNCOVERED 


e 

1 


TEMPLE   OF   SETI   I   AT   ABYDOS  — BARQUE   OF   AMMON   RA 


LEADING   BULL   TO   SACRIFICE 


PROFESSOR    WHITTEMORE    AND   THE    GAZELLE 


HAMED   CARRIES    THE    LUNCH 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

Richard  had  a  letter  to  a  Professor  Whittemore, 
who  is  now  in  charge  of  excavations  there,  under 
the  general  direction  of  Naville,  an  elderly  man, 
quite  an  authority  in  such  matters.  This  made  it 
possible  to  see  what  they  are  now  doing  —  quite  an 
unusual  opportunity,  as  all  these  places  where  work 
is  going  on  are  guarded  and  no  visitors  allowed.  Here 
were  four  hundred  natives  all  carrying  out  the  dirt 
in  baskets  on  their  heads.  Each  basketful  is  carefully 
examined  for  relics,  as  this  locality  is  where  some  of 
the  most  valuable  finds  have  come  from.  The  work- 
men were  fifty  feet  below  the  sand  level,  and  we  could 
just  see  the  great  stone  covering  of  an  entrance  to 
something ;  nobody  knows  what  till  they  get  further 
in ;  but  it  was  thought  to  be  a  mortuary  temple,  as 
it  was  near  the  tombs  of  many  of  the  old  nobility. 
The  professor  gave  us  each  a  piece  of  pottery  that 
he  took  out,  which  must  be  at  least  three  thousand 
years  old.  We  tried  to  have  him  dine  with  us,  but 
he  could  not  get  a  guard  to  go  with  him,  and  it  is 
not  safe  to  travel  at  night  without  one.  He  seemed 
much  pleased  to  see  us  and  made  it  very  interesting. 
To  this  place  the  bodies  of  the  kings  and  all  who 
could  afford  it  were  brought  and  laid  temporarily, 
even  if  they  were  to  be  buried  elsewhere  permanently. 

[69] 


A   VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

Just  over  the  mountains,  to  the  west,  where  the  sun 
went  down,  was  the  end  of  the  world.  There  is  a 
notch  in  the  mountains  through  which  all  souls  passed 
to  the  lower  world  with  their  father,  the  Sun.  No 
man  dared  cross  into  that  region.  There  is  a  road 
from  the  river,  straight  as  an  arrow,  eight  miles  to 
the  great  temple  on  the  border  of  this  necropolis.  It 
is  really  the  only  highway  in  Egypt  to  this  day  that 
amounts  to  anything,  except  the  streets  about  Cairo. 
Great  funeral  processions  came  on  boats  and  passed 
over  it  for  ages.  It  is  a  good  road  to-day,  and  we 
went  over  it  in  carriages  (?).  In  the  temple  is  some 
of  the  finest  work  we  have  seen.  One  can  hardly 
believe  his  eyes  as  he  examines  the  carvings  covering 
its  walls,  showing  the  costumes  of  the  people  in  every 
walk  of  their  life,  the  colors  in  some  cases  as  fresh 
as  when  new.  This  temple  had  a  most  commanding 
location,  overlooking  the  great  fertile  plain  to  the 
east,  eight  miles  wide  and  twenty  long,  every  foot  as 
fertile  as  a  garden,  the  wheat  and  other  crops  now 
half-grown.  Great  herds  of  cattle  and  sheep  are  raised 
here,  all  kept  hobbled  or  in  close  quarters,  and  their 
food  cut  for  them  in  the  main.  We  carried  our  lunch 
out  here,  the  only  time  so  far  that  we  have  had  a 
meal  off  the  boat.  Our  table  boy  took  it  in  baskets 


~ 


WALLS   OF   MUD   BRICK.   AROUND   THE  ANCIENT  CITY  OF   EL   KAB, 
OLDEST   RUINS   IN   EGYPT 


FELLAHEEN   THRESHING 


VEILS   AND   FLY   SWITCHES   ARE   USEFUL 


A  VACATION   ON   THE    NILE 

on  a  donkey,  and  we  ate  under  the  shadow  of  the 
great  pillars  of  the  temple. 

Miss  Watson  continues  to  talk  each  day  in  a  most 
interesting  fashion  when  we  are  not  busy  ashore.  We 
have  just  finished  for  the  second  time  the  Gmn  Sling 
and  have  enjoyed  it  immensely.  There  is  something 
each  day  that  is  different  from  all  others,  so  we  don't 
have  time  to  get  lonesome. 

One  day  we  passed  on  the  bank  of  a  river  the 
tomb  of  an  old  sheik  who  had  sat  in  one  place  fifty- 
five  years,  naked,  and  was  looked  upon  by  the  river 
men  with  great  reverence.  They  paid  him  a  small 
tribute  on  each  trip  to  be  sure  of  a  safe  voyage.  He 
died  only  a  few  years  ago,  and  now  a  small  boat 
comes  alongside  with  one  of  his  apostles  still  claim- 
ing tribute,  and  the  sailors  all  chip  in  a  few  piasters. 
This  is  used  to  keep  his  tomb  in  repair  and  also,  I 
fancy,  for  the  benefit  of  the  said  apostle. 

We  have  only  one  stop  more  to  make,  at  Sakkara, 
the  site  of  old  Memphis,  where  we  shall  spend  a 
day.  We  expect  to  reach  Cairo  Sunday,  the  third,  if 
all  goes  well,  and  stay  there  a  week  or  ten  days.  We 
are  controlled  by  the  sailings  of  ships  to  Athens, 
which  we  expect  to  reach  about  the  fifteenth  and 
Naples  about  the  thirtieth  or  thirty-first.  That  is  as 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

near  as  I  can  estimate  now.  We  can't  figure  as  close 
here  as  Mr.  Ginn  does  when  he  is  looking  for  Aaron. 
I  presume  that  he  is  by  this  time  at  his  grandson's  in 
California. 

I  have  received  three  numbers  of  the  Winchester 
Star,  which  were  very  welcome,  as  that  is  the  only 
American  paper  we  have  seen  since  leaving  New 
York.  We  don't  know  much  about  the  world  out- 
side of  our  own,  which  is  now  the  dahabeah  "  Happy 
Days."  All  our  party  are  well.  Mrs.  Pond  overdid  a 
little  and  was  laid  up  a  couple  of  days.  That  is  all 
so  far.  Mrs.  Parkhurst  has  improved  every  day  and 
is  "  as  good  as  new."  I  hope  this  will  find  all  at  29 
and  the  "  Branches  "  in  good  shape. 

With  very  best  wishes  to  all,  I  am 

Sincerely  yours, 

L.  P. 


XIV 

Semiramis  Hote/,  £airo 

March  7,  1912 
DEAR  FRIENDS, 

Here  we  are,  nicely  settled  in  as  good  a  hotel  as  one 
could  wish.  I  will  inclose  a  circular.  We  are  all  lo- 
cated so  that  we  get  the  river  view  with  pyramids  to  the 
west,  and  also  we  look  down  into  the  private  grounds, 
to  the  south,  which  surround  the  "Palace"  (as  they  call 
private  residences  here)  of  the  mother  of  the  Khedive. 
The  gardens  are  lovely,  palms  and  flower  gardens  in 
full  bloom,  but  around  all  a  wall  of  solid  masonry  nearly 
twenty  feet  high,  with  an  iron  gate  where  an  officer  in 
uniform  and  sword  is  always  on  guard  day  and  night. 
How  different  from  our  American  homes,  all  open 
to  the  public  gaze.  Might  has  been  law  here  for 
ages  and  is  so  still,  as  the  English  soldiers  in  the  bar- 
racks, and  the  cannon  on  the  citadel  which  over- 
looks all  and  commands  the  whole  city,  testify. 

[73] 


A    VACATION    ON    THE    NILE 

Each  of  the  large  hotels  gives  a  fancy-dress  ball 
once  a  year.  Last  night  it  was  our  turn ;  the  beauti- 
ful ballroom  which  opens  into  lovely  gardens  back 
of  the  hotel  was  handsomely  decorated,  and  the 
elite  of  the  city  were  here.  The  costumes  were  most 
elegant  and  some  quite  unique,  this  eastern  country 
lending  itself  readily  to  such  occasions.  Many  of  the 
officers  were  here  in  their  uniforms,  both  English 
and  Scotch,  besides  the  characters  representing  all 
Oriental  nations.  The  servants  of  the  hotel  are  all 
Arabians  or  Nubians,  some  with  rings  in  their  ears 
or  nose,  and  all  dressed  in  flowing  garments,  red  and 
white  predominating,  with  the  fez  or  turban  as  a 
headdress.  Our  young  people  had  a  fine  time,  and 
Ireline  danced  first  with  John  and  then  with  Rich- 
ard, all  guests  of  the  house  being  invited.  I  was  very 
glad  to  see  the  crowd  together.  Dancing  commenced 
at  ten  and  concluded  sometime  after  I  was  sound 
asleep. 

I  was  glad  to  find  a  lot  of  mail  here,  also  cable 
about  the  business,  which  was  comforting,  as  I  should 
feel  just  at  this  time  especially  sorry  to  learn  that  we 
were  likely  to  become  bankrupt. 

Our  river  trip  is  over  and  it  was  simply  grand  in 
every  particular ;  not  a  hitch  from  beginning  to  end. 

[74] 


RESIDENCE    OF    KHEDIVE'S    MOTHER,  CAIRO 


A  VACATION   ON   THE   NILE 

Each  day  was  a  good  one,  and  we  were  really  sorry 
to  leave  the  boat,  which  had  been  our  home  for  five 
weeks  lacking  one  day.  We  were  none  too  soon, 
however,  in  coming  down,  as  the  river  had  fallen 
rapidly.  Sand  bars  were  in  sight  where  we  sailed 
across  going  up,  and  we  passed  several  steamers  and 
boats  fast  aground.  Cook's  new  boat,  the  "  Arabia," 
lost  a  whole  day  on  the  bars.  Our  crew  were  onto 
their  job  and  we  only  lost  about  four  hours  altogether 
on  account  of  low  water. 

We  had  many  interesting  experiences  trading  with 
the  natives.  We  bought  lambs,  chickens,  turkeys, 
eggs,  butter,  milk,  and  all  kinds  of  vegetables,  as  well 
as  trinkets,  but  not  relics,  as  they  have  a  way  of  mak- 
ing those.  They  always  crowded  around  when  we 
stopped,  but  were  never  allowed  on  board.  If  they 
crowded  the  gangplank,  our  crew  would  scatter  them 
with  a  rock  or,  if  necessary,  a  club.  Peaceful  meas- 
ures are  not  always  efficacious  in  this  country. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  trips  we  made  was 
left  till  the  last.  This  was  to  Sakkara,  or  the  site  of 
ancient  Memphis.  This  city  was  to  Lower  Egypt 
what  Thebes  was  to  Upper  Egypt.  It  was  the  older 
of  the  two,  and  for  many  centuries  was  one  of  the 
great  cities  of  the  world.  It  was  built  on  a  great  plain 

[75] 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

west  of  the  river,  not  more  than  twenty  miles  above 
Cairo.  Nothing  is  left  of  the  city  itself.  Whatever 
building  material  was  good  for  anything  was  used  to 
construct  Cairo ;  but  here  were  found  two  great 
stone  statues,  which  guarded  the  approach  to  the 
temple  in  the  center  of  the  city.  They  are  so  mas- 
sive that  no  one  wanted  to  move  them  or  to  break 
them  up,  and  here  they  lie  to  this  day.  They  stood 
perhaps  forty  feet  high,  and  were  as  fine  pieces  of 
worked  granite  as  I  ever  saw.  There  is  a  portrait  of 
a  woman  on  the  side  of  one,  which  would  puzzle 
the  most  skillful  workmen  of  to-day  to  equal.  These 
are  now  guarded  and  will  be  preserved.  This  was  an 
enormous  city  many  miles  square,  and  just  outside  the 
walls  on  the  desert  were  the  cemeteries,  where  mil- 
lions, perhaps,  of  people  were  buried.  In  these  cem- 
eteries are  found  the  great  pyramids  which  are  really 
made  to  cover  the  tombs  of  rulers.  All  the  pyramids 
of  Egypt  are  found  within  a  distance  of  forty  to  fifty 
miles,  as  there  were  no  mountains  here  in  which  to 
dig  out  a  safe  burial  place  for  the  mummy.  Unless 
his  mummy  was  kept  safely,  the  soul  of  the  ruler 
would  have  no  home  when  it  came  back  to  earth  after 
its  long  abode  below.  Underneath  the  sand,  perhaps 
twenty  feet,  limestone  is  found.  In  this  were  dug  out 

[76] 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

suites  of  rooms  just  like  a  house.  In  the  floor  of  one 
of  these  rooms  was  sunk  a  shaft,  sometimes  fifty  or  a 
hundred  feet  in  solid  rock,  straight  down  like  a  well, 
or  sometimes  slanting  a  little.  At  the  bottom  of  this 
was  placed  the  body,  and  the  well  filled  up  and  the 
entrance  concealed.  Then  these  rooms  were  filled 
with  furniture  and  fixtures  just  as  in  life,  and  the 
walls  were  covered  with  pictures  and  writings  telling 
of  the  life  of  the  man  or  the  woman  buried  there. 
Mr.  Davis,  whom  we  met  up  the  river,  found  the 
finest  room  of  all  not  more  than  ten  years  ago,  and 
the  furniture  and  treasures  are  here  in  Cairo  in  the 
Davis  room  of  the  Museum.  All  these  chambers,  of 
which  perhaps  a  dozen  have  been  found  and  opened, 
are  covered  up  to  a  depth  of  from  twenty  to  forty  feet 
in  the  sand.  There  is  nothing  in  sight  but  a  vast 
desert  as  far  as  the  eye  can  see,  and  it  is  most  inter- 
esting to  stumble  upon  such  things  when  the  opening 
to  it  is  not  larger  than  a  good-sized  door.  Hundreds 
of  test  pits  have  been  dug  to  find  these  entrances, 
many  of  course  with  no  result ;  but  when  one  is 
found  it  contains  a  most  wonderful  story  of  an  age 
almost  forgotten. 

It  is  here  that  some  forty  years  ago  was  discovered 
the  Serapeum,  or  tombs  of  the  Sacred  Bulls,  perhaps 

[77] 


A   VACATION   ON   THE   NILE 

the  most  astonishing  piece  of  work  of  all.  There  is  an 
entrance  like  that  to  the  tomb  of  a  person,  and  lead- 
ing to  it  an  avenue  of  sphinxes,  all  of  alabaster,  some 
thirty  or  forty  in  all.  The  head  of  one  of  these  showed 
above  the  sand,  and  this  led  to  the  discovery  of  the 
tombs.  These  sphinxes  have  been  dug  out,  but  the 
drifting  sands  have  again  covered  all  but  one  or  two. 
The  entrance  is  secured  with  an  iron  gateway  and 
masonry,  and  one  descends  an  incline  to  reach  it. 
It  is  a  mammoth  corridor,  perhaps  twenty  feet  high 
and  fifteen  wide,  cut  out  of  solid  limestone,  extend- 
ing several  hundred  feet  in  length,  and  on  each  side 
massive  chambers  are  cut.  In  each  one  is  a  giant  sar- 
cophagus of  beautiful  granite  or  other  stone,  brought 
here  from  a  great  distance,  each  consisting  of  a  huge 
coffin  and  a  cover  fitted  closely  together,  and  many  of 
them  covered  with  the  finest  of  carvings.  In  each  was 
buried  originally  the  mummy  of  the  Sacred  Bull.  I 
think  there  are  about  twenty  in  all  —  a  most  stupen- 
dous piece  of  work,  requiring  great  skill  and  enor- 
mous resources  to  carry  out.  There  was  only  one 
mummy  found.  All  the  others  had  been  rifled  at 
some  time,  for  much  treasure  was  buried  with  each 
bull.  The  covers  are  half  shoved  to  one  side  just  as 
the  robbers  left  them.  One  has  to  go  up  a  ladder  to 

[78] 


v 


- 

. 


SPHINX    IN    FRONT    OF    MUSEUM,    CAIRO 


ria  -. 


. 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

look  into  the  inside  of  one  of  these  old  stone  coffins. 
The  cover  alone  weighs  many  tons.  How  could 
they  make  them  and  get  them  down  there,  is  one's 
first  thought.  But  on  the  inside  of  an  old  temple  cut 
in  stone  the  whole  story  is  told — just  how  they  were 
cut,  rolled  by  hand  upon  boats,  carried  down  the 
river,  and  then  rolled  again  into  place.  In  fact,  the 
whole  record  of  this  people  and  of  all  their  doings  is 
found  in  one  place  or  another,  and  is  perhaps  the  best- 
known  history  of  any  ancient  people,  thanks  to  the 
work  of  the  last  forty  years,  especially  the  last  twenty. 
Pictures  and  drawings  of  all  kinds  of  work  cut  in  the 
stone  tell  the  whole  story  of  the  everyday  life  of  the 
people,  and  a  large  part  of  it  is  exactly  like  the  work 
now  done  in  the  fields  and  on  the  river.  Not  content 
with  pictures,  thousands  of  models  of  men,  soldiers, 
women,  cattle,  birds,  sheep,  horses,  boats,  and  fur- 
niture were  made  and  put  in  the  tombs  or  rooms 
near  the  tombs,  and  these  are  now  all  saved  in  the 
Museum  at  Cairo. 

We  spend  an  hour  each  morning  there,  going  over 
again  in  the  Museum  the  road  that  we  traveled  up 
the  river.  In  general,  I  am  not  much  interested  in 
museums,  but  this  one  is  the  best  I  ever  saw  and  means 
more  to  me  than  any.  It  was  begun  by  Mariette  and 

[79] 


A   VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

is  now  in  charge  of  Professor  Maspero,  his  pupil. 
We  called  on  him  to-day  and  were  treated  most 
courteously. 

While  we  are  enjoying  ourselves  here  ever  so 
much,  we  think  of  the  river  and  our  crew  of  black 
Arabs  and  Nubians  who  could  not  speak  a  word  of 
English,  but  whom  we  felt  very  well  acquainted  with. 
If  we  ever  went  ashore,  one  or  two  always  followed 
close  at  our  heels  like  faithful  dogs,  and  if  we  went 
into  a  shop,  they  waited  for  us  at  the  door.  They  all 
lined  up  in  their  best  clothes,  with  the  captain  at 
their  head,  when  we  left  the  boat,  and  he  shook  each 
of  us  by  the  hand.  As  we  passed  off  the  boat  they  all 
salaamed,  and  the  trip  was  over.  A  liberal  amount 
of  silver  coins  deposited  in  the  captain's  hand,  to  be 
divided  equally  among  them,  made  them  show  their 
white  teeth  and  smile  like  happy  children;  and  so 
we  shall  always  remember  them. 

Glad  to  get  your  letters.  They  look  good  at  this 
distance  from  home.  All  well.  The  men  of  the 
party  are  going  to  Port  Said  to-morrow. 

Love  to  all, 

L.  P. 


[80] 


MINARET 


XV 

Semiramis  Hote!y  Cairo 

{March  12,  1912 
DEAR  FRIENDS, 

I  fear  you  will  be  tired  of  puzzling  out  my  long 
letters.  After  I  leave  Egypt  I  don't  expect  to  be  so 
long-winded.  These  letters  will  have  to  serve  as  my 
diary,  for  I  keep  only  my  "  Line  a  Day  "  in  addition 
to  them. 

Cairo  is  a  world  in  itself,  and  we  have  been  very 
busy  while  here  and  most  fortunate  in  many  particu- 
lars. Our  trip  so  far  has  been  as  near  perfect  as  we 
could  wish.  One  could  spend  a  year  in  this  town 
and  see  something  new  each  day.  We  have  seen 
much  that  is  most  interesting.  In  the  Museum  we 
have  reviewed  what  we  saw  of  the  ancient  in 
Upper  Egypt ;  and  as  each  article  is  marked  with 
the  place  from  which  it  came,  and  as  we  had  been 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

to  practically  all  these  places,  it  meant  much  more 
than  it  would  if  we  had  gone  to  the  Museum  first. 

Around  Cairo  centers  medieval  or  Mohammedan 
Egypt.  The  larger  part  of  the  people  are  Moham- 
medans, and  their  mosques  are  on  every  hand,  some 
built  a  thousand  years  ago,  some  just  completed,  some 
interesting  only  as  relics  of  the  early  Arabian  ar- 
chitecture, but  many  used  every  day  in  the  year.  In 
all  I  think  there  are  several  hundred.  We  have  vis- 
ited perhaps  six  or  seven.  We  first  put  on  slippers  at 
the  door  and  are  then  shown  about  very  courteously, 
but  not  in  service  time,  although  many  men  are  at 
prayers  as  we  pass  along.  No  women  have  been  in 
any  one  of  them  when  we  have  been  there,  and  in 
general  the  women  are  not  encouraged  or  expected  to 
go  to  the  mosques.  In  connection  with  nearly  every 
mosque  is  a  school  where  the  boys  sit  on  the  ground 
in  groups  of  a  dozen  to  twenty  and  repeat  the  Koran. 
I  think  that  is  all  they  learn.  In  each  mosque  is  a 
fountain,  generally  in  the  center  of  a  great  courtyard 
open  to  the  sky.  All  wash  feet,  hands,  and  face  be- 
fore entering.  At  noon  and  other  times  in  the  day 
the  muezzin  calls  all  the  faithful  to  prayer  from  a 
balcony  that  is  on  each  minaret.  These  minarets  are 
very  graceful  and  shapely,  and  some  of  them  are 

[82] 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

made  of  very  costly  material.  In  general  the  interiors 
of  the  mosques  are  lined  with  mosaic  and  the  altars 
built  of  precious  stones  —  thoroughly  oriental,  and  the 
wealth  of  centuries  is  gathered  in  them.  The  floors 
and  courtyard  of  one  is  the  University  of  Cairo,  the 
center  of  Mohammedan  teaching  and  fanaticism  for 
the  whole  Eastern  world.  There  are  ten  thousand 
pupils  here,  and  hundreds  of  teachers,  all  squatted 
on  the  ground  in  groups.  It  was  a  wonderful  sight 

—  young   men  and  middle-aged   from  all   parts   of 
Africa   and  Asia,   each  nation  by  itself;    languages 
and   costumes   strange   and  most   picturesque ;    men 
of  all  shades  of  color.    Some  years  it  is  not  safe  for 
Christians  to  go  in,  but  it  seems  to  be  quiet  now 
and  we  were  taken  right  in  amongst  them  and  trav- 
eled all  about.    There  were  acres  of  them  literally. 
We  were  hissed  several  times,  and  one  or  two  spit 
at  us  as  we  passed.    We  only  looked  into  the  room 
where  the  Turks  were,  as  they  are  now  pretty  bitter 
against  the  Italians,  and  all  white  men  look  alike  to 
them.    It  was  a  most  interesting  experience,  but  we 
were  all  glad  to  take  off  our  slippers.    The  pupils 
first  learn  Arabic  if  they  don't  know  the  language, 

—  as  many  do  not,  —  then  law  as  found  in  the  Ko- 
ran, then  logic,  rhetoric,  art  of  poetry,  all  as  taught 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

by  the  Koran,  with  religious  teaching  predominating 
all  the  time.  Everything  is  memorizing  ;  no  reason- 
ing. If  schools  are  brought  in  by  the  English,  the 
Mohammedan  teachers  in  the  University  will  have  a 
hard  time  with  the  next  generation.  Already  there 
are  signs  that  they  are  beginning  to  think,  but  we 
do  not  realize  in  our  western  homes  what  a  host  of 
people  are  in  the  Mohammedan  faith  and  how  fa- 
natical they  are.  If  a  religious  war  is  ever  stirred 
up,  these  border  countries  will  suffer  terribly.  I  sin- 
cerely hope  that  the  Turkish-Italian  war  will  not  be 
prolonged,  for  if  the  fire  gets  started  it  will  burn  a 
long  time. 

The  Cairo  of  to-day  is  most  entertaining,  and  one 
can  see  in  some  of  the  main  streets  in  an  hour's 
time  every  nationality  in  the  world,  camels,  donkeys, 
horses,  cows,  goats,  sheep,  turkeys,  and  automobiles 
and  bicycles  all  in  a  mass  together  ;  each  seems  obliv- 
ious of  all  the  others,  and  all  manage  to  get  out  of 
the  way  and  get  along.  There  are  about  a  million 
of  people  here.  The  town  is  improving  rapidly.  In 
the  new  sections  the  streets  are  broad  and  clean  and 
houses  are  going  up  which  would  be  very  credit- 
able to  any  city.  But  the  old  town  is  a  sight  once 
seen  never  to  be  forgotten ;  miles  of  narrow  streets, 


INTERIOR    OF    MOSQUE,    SHOWING    A    FOUNTAIN   OF 
ABLUTION —CAIRO 


- 


INTERIOR   OF   ANOTHER    MOSQUE  — CAIRO 


" 


A  VACATION   ON   THE   NILE 

some  wide  enough  for  two  carriages  to  pass,  some  for 
only  one,  and  again  we  must  leave  our  carriage  and 
proceed  on  foot.  Every  kind  of  work  is  done  in  little 
shops  on  the  first  floor  and  on  the  sidewalk,  if  there 
is  one,  or  in  the  middle  of  the  street,  if  there  is  not. 
The  people  live  upstairs.  The  second  and  third  sto- 
ries usually  project  two  or  three  feet,  and  they  can 
shake  hands  from  the  chamber  windows  across  the 
narrowest  streets.  Often  boards  or  canvas  are  spread 
across  from  one  house  to  another  so  the  street  is 
shaded.  Here  all  the  work  of  the  city  is  done  —  the 
making  of  shoes,  hats,  all  kinds  of  brass  and  copper 
ware,  tents,  saddles,  harnesses,  and  jewelry  ;  carpenter- 
ing, spinning,  blacksmithing,  rope  making ;  in  fact, 
every  kind  of  work  is  done  that  goes  to  feed,  clothe, 
and  shelter  the  people,  and  it  is  all  done  by  hand  — 
not  a  single  machine  —  and  some  of  it  is  marvelously 
well  done. 

The  people  seem  to  be  good-natured  and  civil. 
The  language  of  the  street  is  Arabic.  French  is 
heard  in  the  better  places  and  English  is  creeping 
in  a  little.  The  Arabs  keep  Friday,  the  Jews  Satur- 
day, and  the  Christians  Sunday  —  four  days  when  all 
are  at  work.  While  the  city  and  the  country  are 
nominally  under  Turkey  and  the  Turkish  flag  is 


A  VACATION   ON   THE   NILE 

everywhere,  Kitchener,  with  his  four  thousand  Eng- 
lish regulars  and  fifteen  thousand  Egyptian  troops 
scattered  over  the  land,  really  controls.  His  house  is 
quite  near  the  hotel,  and  the  English  troops  are  not 
more  than  fifty  rods  from  here.  Most  of  the  native 
troops  are  scattered,  while  he  holds  the  English  near 
Cairo  and  Alexandria.  With  these  and  the  cannon 
on  the  Citadel  the  Turk  will  never  get  in  again,  and 
the  rank  and  file  of  the  people  are  glad  of  it.  The 
pashas  hate  the  English,  and  well  they  may,  for  they 
can  no  longer  rob  the  poor  fellah  as  they  did  for 
nearly  a  hundred  years.  For  the  first  time  he  is 
having  a  show,  and  in  ten  years  more,  if  England 
holds  on,  he  will  be  a  different  man ;  but  it  will 
take  generations  to  make  him  fit  to  take  care  of 
himself.  Here,  as  at  home,  the  politician  is  the 
fellow  that  makes  the  trouble. 

I  met  Talbot  Kelly,  the  artist,  up  the  river.  He 
and  his  wife  invited  us  to  tea  here  in  Cairo  and  we 
have  had  the  pleasure  of  entertaining  them  since. 
As  he  has  been  here  for  thirty  years  a  part  of 
each  year,  is  himself  an  officer  in  the  English  army, 
knows  Kitchener  and  all  the  army  men  well,  and  is 
frequently  called  in  by  the  Khedive  to  talk  over 
matters,  I  have  been  able  to  get  pretty  close  to  the 

[86] 


STATUE   OF   DE    LESSEES 


\: 


A  VACATION    ON   THE    NILE 

situation  here  from  the  English  and  also  the  native 
standpoint.  It  is  an  intricate  and  interesting  problem, 
but  England  I  think  has  it  well  in  hand,  especially 
as  she  also  controls  the  Sudan,  which  really  controls 
the  Nile,  and  the  Nile  is  Egypt. 

We  had  a  most  interesting  day  at  Port  Said.  It  is 
about  a  hundred  miles  down  there,  twenty  through 
the  delta  with  the  finest  farms  I  ever  saw,  every  foot 
worked  by  hand  like  our  gardens,  thirty  miles  through 
the  Arabian  desert  to  the  Canal,  and  then  along  the 
side  of  the  Canal  for  the  last  fifty  miles,  or  about 
half  its  entire  length.  We  passed  through  the  land 
of  Goshen  of  the  Bible  and  the  country  in  which 
Moses  operated.  The  old  caravan  route  is  very  plain 
to  this  day  and  could  not  have  been  elsewhere,  as 
there  is  no  other  way  to  pass  to  Asia.  I  was  surprised 
to  find  that  we  were  only  one  hundred  fifty  miles 
from  Jerusalem,  but  we  were  advised  not  to  go  there 
this  year.  There  is  a  magnificent  statue  of  De  Les- 
seps  at  the  Mediterranean  entrance  to  the  Canal  and 
a  vast  amount  of  shipping  in  Port  Said.  Every  flag 
that  I  have  ever  heard  of  was  to  be  seen  but  one, 
and  that  was  the  flag  of  the  United  States.  We  felt 
bad  that  we  were  not  represented  in  such  a  great 
collection,  but  we  are  not  much  on  the  ocean,  and 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

I  fear  our  Western  congressmen  do  riot  fully  realize 
what  a  merchant  marine  would  mean  to  us  as  a  world 
power. 

I  intended  to  mention  the  funerals  and  weddings. 
Each  procession  of  these  is  preceded  by  music  (?), 
sometimes  a  band,  sometimes  only  a  drum  or  tom- 
tom with  singers.  At  funerals  the  body  is  wrapped 
in  cloth  as  the  mummies  used  to  be,  though  of  course 
they  are  not  now  treated  as  formerly  (see  Bible  for 
Joseph's  father),  and  borne  on  the  shoulders  of  five 
or  six  men,  with  frequent  changes  if  the  person  is 
one  of  importance,  as  it  is  considered  a  great  privi- 
lege to  carry  the  dead.  The  funeral  of  a  pasha  while 
we  were  here  had  as  many  as  five  hundred  men  in 
the  procession.  Women  are  never  seen  in  funeral 
processions.  All  women  on  the  streets  have  their 
faces  covered;  the  poorer  class  have  a  shawl  drawn 
over  the  head  and  face,  while  the  better  class  wear 
either  a  black  or  white  cloth  up  to  the  eyes. 

Our  ladies  had  a  rare  experience  last  evening. 
Through  Mrs.  Talbot  Kelly  they  were  invited  to  a 
"  Mohammedan  hen  party."  The  ladies  of  the  Khe- 
dive and  other  first  families  gave  a  fete  in  a  private 
residence,  or  palace,  for  some  charitable  purpose ;  no 
men  wanted,  or  at  least  not  invited.  There  were 

[88] 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

tableaux  showing  Eastern  costumes,  wedding  cere- 
monies, dancing,  singing,  etc.  Some  two  hundred 
or  more  were  present  —  a  few  English,  no  other 
Americans.  Black  eunuchs  were  in  attendance,  look- 
ing after  their  masters'  interests,  and  the  ladies  of 
the  harems  were  for  once  having  a  gay  time.  The 
greatest  entertainment  for  our  people  was  to  see  the 
guests.  As  near  as  I  can  make  out  it  was  a  show 
of  jewelry,  paint,  powder,  and  fat  women,  some  of 
them  of  tremendous  proportions.  That  is  about  all 
I  have  heard  so  far.  By  the  time  I  get  home  I  may 
be  able  to  tell  quite  a  story.  At  any  rate,  our  ladies 
did  not  get  in  till  after  midnight,  and  I  guess  they 
saw  considerable. 

Well,  to-morrow  we  are  off —  six  weeks  and  three 
days  in  Egypt  and  every  one  of  them  with  clear  sky, 
bright  sunshine,  and  just  cool  enough  to  be  bracing ; 
air  perfectly  dry  and  pure,  wind  either  from  the  des- 
ert or  the  Mediterranean ;  a  perfect  climate  and  a 
most  interesting  and  enjoyable  trip. 

Love  to  all. 

L.  P. 


[89] 


XVI 

Talace  Hotel,  ^Athens 

{March  18,  1912 
DEAR   FRIENDS, 

Our  trip  from  Cairo  to  Athens  was  uneventful,  but 
most  interesting  and  enjoyable.  It  is  one  hundred 
miles  from  Cairo  to  Alexandria,  and  from  its  suburbs 
to  the  sea  it  is  one  great  garden.  As  far  as  one  can 
see,  fields  as  level  as  the  floor  stretch  away  on  either 
side,  and  excepting  the  little  spots  allotted  to  villages 
all  is  most  carefully  cultivated  by  hand.  The  clover 
was  knee-high,  peas  and  beans  and  tomatoes  were 
ripe,  and  our  ship  going  north  was  packed  full  of 
great  baskets  of  these  going  to  southern  Europe.  As 
these  crops  were  coming  off,  the  land  was  prepared 
for  cotton,  which  is  now  being  planted  and  is  raised 
in  great  quantities  in  the  Delta,  although  it  is  still  a 
question  whether  this  will  be  a  permanent  crop,  for 

[9-] 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

it  is  found  that  the  land  will  not  stand  it  but  a  few 
years.  Formerly  the  Nile  had  several  branches  run- 
ning through  this  territory.  Now  there  are  but  two, 
but  the  whole  section  is  covered  with  a  network  of 
canals  which  are  controlled  by  a  great  dam  below 
Cairo,  so  that  instead  of  an  annual  inundation  the 
water  is  supplied  all  the  year  round.  With  the  great 
dam  at  Assuan  nearly  all  Egypt  will  be  so  watered, 
for  in  the  hot  weather  of  summer,  if  water  is  kept 
off  for  a  week,  the  crops  are  lost.  So  in  Upper 
Egypt  thousands  of  men  with  the  shadoof  and  sak- 
ieh  are  still  working  day  and  night  to  get  the  water 
up  out  of  the  Nile  to  the  crops.  All  this  will  change 
in  a  few  years,  and  the  men  will  be  put  to  work  on 
the  land.  It  is  estimated  that  the  acreage  of  good 
land  will  be  doubled  in  the  country  by  these  dams ; 
for  water  is  all  that  is  needed  to  secure  crops,  and 
not  a  drop  comes  from  the  sky  in  northern  Egypt 
and  not  much  in  Lower  Egypt,  except  close  to  the 
sea.  Other  improvements  must  come.  In  the  whole 
country  I  did  not  see  a  single  wheelbarrow  or  shovel 
or  steel  plow.  Farming,  canal  building,  and  all  kinds 
of  heavy  work  were  done  with  a  bog  hoe  and  a  basket, 
and  where  a  plow  was  used,  which  was  not  very  fre- 
quently, it  was  the  same  old  wooden  plow  drawn  by 


..' 


THK   OLDKST   OBELISK   IN    EGYPT  —  HELIOPOLIS 


A  VACATION   ON   THE   NILE 

oxen,  an  ox  and  a  cow,  or  a  camel  to  take  the  place 
of  either.  I  did  not  see  a  single  horse  working  in 
the  fields,  and  all  these  tools  and  methods  of  work 
are  exactly  the  same  as  in  the  pictures  on  the  walls 
of  the  tombs  and  temples  thousands  of  years  old.  As 
we  rode  to  the  station  I  counted  over  fifty  men  with 
ropes  drawing  a  small  steam  boiler  through  the  streets 
of  Cairo,  just  as  they  drew  the  stones  and  columns  for 
their  pyramids  and  tombs.  Two  or  four  horses  would 
have  done  it  easily.  They  are  putting  in  water  pipes 
in  Cairo,  and  I  walked  the  whole  length  of  the 
work  to  see  how  it  was  done  —  five  or  six  hundred 
men  and  not  a  shovel  in  the  gang;  mattock  and  bas- 
ket were  used,  and  if  the  dirt  went  far  it  was  carried 
on  the  head.  As  happy  a  set  as  I  ever  saw,  always 
singing  at  their  work,  for  now  they  are  paid  (twenty 
or  thirty  cents  a  day),  while  formerly  they  were 
seized  and  made  to  work  for  nothing  and  pay  taxes 
on  their  crops  at  home.  If  the  crops  burned  up 
while  they  were  away,  the  taxes  must  still  be  paid 
or  the  land  would  be  taken.  In  this  way  grew  up 
the  great  estates  of  the  pashas.  No  wonder  the  pashas 
hate  the  British.  How  a  people  could  survive  such 
oppression  and  outrage  all  these  centuries  is  a  wonder 
to  me. 

[93] 


A  VACATION    ON    THE    NILE 

Just  outside  of  Cairo  we  pass  through  Heliopolis, 
the  seat  of  learning  and  religious  teaching  of  ancient 
times.  Nothing  remains  but  a  single  beautiful  obe- 
lisk of  Assuan  granite  in  one  piece,  some  sixty  feet 
high,  which  is  completely  covered  with  inscriptions 
finely  cut,  and  the  whole  most  beautifully  polished. 
It  stands  in  the  midst  of  a  great  wheat  field,  and 
I  sincerely  hope  that  Morgan  or  Carnegie  will  not 
carry  it  off  to  New  York  or  Pittsburgh. 

Our  train  was  a  boat  express  and  made  only  two 
stops ;  a  good  roadbed  ballasted  with  broken  stone ; 
an  English  corridor  train  with  dining  car.  The  ex- 
Grand  Vizier  of  Turkey  had  been  a  couple  of  days 
in  Cairo  and  went  down  on  this  train  with  several 
attendants.  He  was  accompanied  to  the  train  by 
many  officers  and  friends  and  much  ceremony,  which 
was  repeated  at  Alexandria  when  he  came  on  our  boat 
a  few  minutes  before  we  sailed.  All  his  party  were 
in  European  dress  with  the  exception  of  the  red  fez. 
They  were  a  fine-looking  set  of  men.  They  greeted 
each  other  by  kissing  on  each  cheek,  and  all  kissed  the 
vizier's  hand  as  they  left  him  on  the  boat.  We  saw 
him  frequently  further  along.  I  wondered,  if  they 
kissed  the  men  twice,  how  many  times  they  kissed 
the  women  when  they  got  home. 

[94] 


,"' 


. 


, 


.   . 


ACADEMY   OF   SCIENCE —  ATHENS 


NEW   LIBRARY  — ATHENS 


- 

•    • 

I 


A  VACATION    ON    THE    NILE 

Alexandria  is  an  up-to-date,  smart,  commercial 
town,  and  is  growing  rapidly.  It  has  long  stretches  of 
fine  docks,  and  the  harbor  was  full  of  vessels,  a  large 
number  of  Turks  not  daring  to  leave  port  on  account 
of  Italian  gunboats  which  were  supposed  to  be  in  the 
vicinity.  We  went  north  on  a  ship  of  the  Khedival 
mail  line  running  twice  a  week  from  Alexandria  to 
Constantinople  and  stopping  at  Athens  and  Smyrna. 
It  was  only  five  thousand  tons  and  looked  pretty  small 
compared  with  our  good  old  ship  the  "Adriatic," 
and  when  we  saw  the  white  caps  rolling  in  outside 
the  breakwater  there  was  some  thinking  but  little  said. 
However,  the  wind  went  down  early,  the  sea  all  the 
way  to  Athens  was  like  the  proverbial  mill  pond, 
and  we  enjoyed  the  trip  very  much.  The  ship  flew 
the  English  flag,  but  was  manned  and  officered  by 
Italians,  Greeks,  and  Turks,  a  motley  crew,  and  not 
a  word  of  English  spoken  in  the  lot,  except  by  the 
captain  and  first  officer,  an  Italian  and  a  Greek. 
Again  we  looked  in  vain  for  an  American  flag  in 
the  harbor,  but  as  we  came  out  the  "  Arabic  "  with 
a  "  Clark's  party  "  was  seen  outside,  and  she  had  our 
flag  as  well  as  the  British  at  the  masthead.  It  looked 
mighty  good.  The  trip  takes  two  nights  and  one 
day.  The  weather  was  fine,  the  sky  clear,  but  as  we 

[95] 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

neared  Greece  we  began  to  feel  that  we  had  left 
behind  us  the  warm  weather.  While  the  pleasantest 
part  of  any  journey  is  usually  the  home-coming,  we 
watched  "  Egypt  Land  "  till  it  was  out  of  sight,  and 
felt  that  we  had  left  behind  a  friendly  people  and  a 
most  charming  place  to  winter.  Six  weeks  and  three 
days,  and  every  one  of  them  sunny  and  pleasant,  and 
every  one  full  of  interesting  experiences.  I  never 
expect  to  have  such  a  restful  and  interesting  and  in- 
structive season  again,  as  I  certainly  never  have  before. 

We  passed  close  to  Crete.  It  is  a  bold  and  rocky 
island,  one  mountain  rising  eight  thousand  feet  high 
and  covered  with  snow  for  quite  a  way  from  the  top. 
The  boys  were  sorry  not  to  see  a  battle  between 
Turks  and  Italians,  but  the  rest  of  us  were  satisfied 
to  go  peacefully  on  our  way.  The  approach  to 
Athens  in  the  early  morning  was  most  inspiring,  as 
there  are  many  islands  and  beautiful  bays  along  the 
shore,  the  water  blue,  and  far  up  on  the  hill  the 
Parthenon. 

All  well. 

L.  P. 


[96] 


THE   MOUND  AT   MARATHON  — HERE   WERE    BURIED  THOSE 
ATHENIANS   WHO   FELL   IN   THAT   BATTLE 


' 


- 


' 


A  -  £H>' V '>  il  /jl I.OIl~r.rv 


THE    PLAIN   OF   MARATHON,  WITH    THE   ISLAND   OF   EUBOEA 
IN    THE    DISTANCE 


AN   ALBANIAN  — ONE   OF   THE    KING'S   GUARD 


XVII 

Talace  Hotel,  ^Athens 

•tMarch  20,  1912 
DEAR  FRIENDS  ALL, 

The  sunny  skies  of  Egypt  have  followed  us  here, 
and  the  weather,  though  somewhat  cooler,  is  all  that 
we  could  ask  for.  When  we  ride  our  heavy  coats  are 
very  welcome.  In  fact,  there  are  two  things  that  I 
should  recommend  any  one  to  take  who  is  to  spend 
a  season  around  this  Mediterranean  country  —  a  fur 
coat  and  a  fairly  good  bank  account.  Without  either 
he  is  likely  to  suffer.  I  think  there  have  not  been 
more  than  ten  days  in  all,  since  I  left  Boston,  that  I 
have  not  had  on  my  fur  coat  at  some  hour  of  the  day. 

After  the  wonders  of  Egypt  I  had  thought  that 
Greece  might  seem  a  little  tame,  but  I  find  that  it  is 
still  full  of  interest  and  the  basis  of  our  Western  civi- 
lization, although  it  in  turn  no  doubt  drew  from  the 

[97] 


A   VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

East.  Athens  is  inland,  and  one  approaches  it  by  the 
Piraeus,  the  harbor  town,  which  is  about  five  miles 
distant.  The  town  is  so  well  concealed  by  high  hills 
that  it  is  not  seen  from  the  ocean  until  you  are  at  the 
very  entrance,  which  is  so  narrow  that  two  ships  could 
barely  enter  abreast.  No  ship  goes  in  or  out  except 
between  sun  and  sun.  The  city  has  improved  vastly 
since  I  was  here  nine  years  ago.  It  contains  about 
160,000  people  and  is  a  clean,  wholesome-looking 
place ;  it  seems  especially  so  to  us  after  our  experiences 
further  East.  The  streets  are  broad.  Most  of  the 
town  looks  new.  All  the  public  buildings,  of  which 
there  are  many,  and  a  large  number  of  private  resi- 
dences and  business  houses  are  built  of  white  marble. 
All  the  buildings  are  of  stone  or  brick  and  plastered, 
painted  white,  so  that  the  whole  city  looks  white. 
As  there  are  very  few  trees  except  in  some  of  the 
old  residents'  gardens,  it  is  somewhat  dazzling  to 
the  eye,  especially  at  midday,  but  at  night  and 
morning  it  is  very  attractive.  The  sunsets  here, 
while  not  to  be  compared  with  those  in  Egypt,  are 
considered  very  lovely,  and  so  they  are.  Byron  de- 
scribes one,  I  think,  in  "  The  Corsair."  Our  hotel 
looks  to  the  west,  and  the  sun  goes  down  over 
the  mountains,  leaving  an  outline  of  the  Acropolis 

[98] 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

and  Parthenon,  which  in  the  twilight  makes  a  lasting 
impression.  This  is  a  country  of  mountains  on  all 
sides.  Athens  is  surrounded  by  them  at  distances  of 
from  three  to  fifteen  miles.  Of  course  the  central 
point  of  interest  here  is  the  Acropolis,  and  we  have 
been  up  there  several  times.  It  was  originally  a  great 
hill  rising  up  right  out  of  the  valley,  almost  perpen- 
dicularly, to  the  height  of  five  hundred  feet.  The 
point  was  cut  off  and  the  sides  terraced  up  with 
masonry,  so  that  there  is  now  a  level  spot  of  per- 
haps six  acres  on  top.  From  here  one  can  see  in 
all  directions,  and  here  the  ancients  first  built  their 
fort.  Afterwards  it  was  the  meeting  place  of  the 
town,  and  finally  they  built  their  great  temple  to 
the  goddess  for  whom  they  named  their  city.  The 
Persians  destroyed  the  first  one,  but  the  ruins  of  the 
last  one  and  the  old  foundations  of  the  first  one  are 
still  here,  and  enough  is  left  to  prove  at  once  the 
claim  that  it  was  the  most  perfect  building  ever 
erected  by  man.  There  is  more  connected  with  this 
spot  that  affects  us  of  to-day  than  with  any  place  I 
have  ever  stood  upon.  Almost  within  a  stone's  throw 
is  Mars  Hill,  where  St.  Paul  spoke ;  a  little  to  one 
side  on  another  .hill  Demosthenes  addressed  his  peo- 
ple ;  in  a  cave  near  by  Socrates  was  imprisoned ; 

[99] 


A  VACATION    ON   THE    NILE 

and  along  the  west  side  is  the  old  outdoor  theater 
of  Dionysus,  where  the  great  Greek  plays  were  first 
put  upon  the  stage.  The  bay  of  Salamis  is  near  by 
to  the  west,  where  Xerxes  saw  his  fleet  utterly  de- 
stroyed and  his  conquest  of  the  western  world 
brought  to  a  halt.  Had  the  result  been  different, 
there  might  have  been  no  western  world ;  and  if 
America  had  been  discovered  by  the  Mohamme- 
dans, which  is  doubtful,  instead  of  Harvard  Col- 
lege and  the  Athenaeum  Press  at  Cambridge  there 
might  have  been  a  lot  of  fanatical  priests  squatted 
on  the  ground  as  at  Cairo,  trying  to  prove  that 
the  Koran  of  the  fourth  century  contained  all  the 
law,  philosophy,  and  religion  necessary  for  us  of 
the  twentieth.  But  I  didn't  intend  to  deliver  a  lec- 
ture, only  one  can't  help  thinking  of  these  things 
when  right  on  the  ground. 

Our  young  people  with  Miss  Watson  have  gone 
down  into  the  Peloponnesus  for  two  days.  Mrs.  P. 
and  I  went  before,  so  we  concluded  to  stop  here  and 
take  a  rest.  They  will  visit  Nauplia,  Argos,  Mycene, 
etc.  Miss  Watson  has  the  whole  history  of  this  country 
at  her  tongue's  end,  and  it  is  a  mighty  fine  chance  for 
Richard  and  the  others.  We  had  a  fine  ride  in  autos 
out  to  the  battle  field  of  Marathon  about  twenty  miles 

[100] 


A   VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

northeast,  and  situated  on  about  the  loveliest  bay  you 
ever  saw,  with  the  island  of  Eubcea  in  sight.  The 
road  newly  completed  is  the  best  in  the  country. 
We  passed  close  to  the  great  marble  quarries,  where 
old  Athens  as  well  as  new  found  its  beautiful  build- 
ing material,  and  out  of  which  Praxiteles  and  the  rest 
made  their  famous  statues.  The  country  is  poor,  the 
land  is  poor,  the  people  are  poor.  The  great  crop  is 
small  grapes.  Very  few  trees  are  to  be  seen  except 
olives  and  a  few  scrub  pines  and  oaks  on  the  moun- 
tains. While  this  is  nominally  a  kingdom,  it  is  really 
a  republic. 

Next  Sunday  the  general  election  takes  place.  One 
hundred  and  eighty-five  members  of  their  Assembly 
or  Congress  are  chosen,  and  there  is  more  politics 
to  the  square  mile  than  in  Ward  Eight  of  Boston. 
There  are  rallies  and  processions,  bands,  fireworks, 
red  fire,  speeches,  etc.  every  evening.  To-morrow 
night  there  will  be  a  monster  rally  in  the  great  square 
before  the  king's  palace,  addressed  by  the  prime 
minister.  When  we  were  coming  back  from  Mara- 
thon we  saw  many  people  gathering  at  a  tavern  on 
the  road,  and  as  we  came  up  an  auto  with  six  men 
drove  in  from  Athens.  All  hands  were  treated  and 
there  was  much  hand-shaking.  We  stopped,  and 

[•01] 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

finding  one  of  the  six  men  could  talk  English,  I  ven- 
tured to  speak  to  him.  As  soon  as  he  saw  we  were 
Americans  he  said :  "  This  is  the  Prime  Minister. 
We  are  electioneering  a  la  Roosevelt."  I  noticed  a 
half-dozen  men  with  rifles  near  by  and  asked  him 
about  them.  He  said :  "  It  is  better  to  have  them 
near.  Sometimes  our  people  get  hot." 

The  dress  here  is  entirely  European,  except  now 
and  then  a  peasant  in  an  Albanian  costume.  The 
King's  Guards  wear  this  uniform,  which  is  red, 
white,  and  blue,  the  white  and  blue  predominating, 
and  is  very  "  fetching."  The  language  of  the  street 
is  modern  Greek,  and  French  is  next  in  importance. 
English  is  rarely  heard  except  in  hotels.  This  is 
the  land  of  the  Greek  church,  and  the  old  calendar 
is  still  used  to-day.  Our  2oth  is  their  7th  —  thir- 
teen days  difference.  If  you  did  not  hear  the  people 
speak,  you  might  think  they  were  a  lot  of  Bosto- 
nians,  except  that  there  are  not  so  many  kinds.  There 
are  very  few  foreigners  here.  I  like  the  looks  of  the 
people  very  much,  and  I  think  they  are  on  the  road  to 
better  times.  The  present  prime  minister,  whom  the 
best  people  seem  to  be  supporting,  is  apparently  a  level- 
headed business  man,  which  is  what  is  needed  here  at 
this  time,  as  the  king  is  merely  a  figurehead. 


A  VACATION   ON   THE   NILE 

This  might  well  be  called  the  Mecca  of  all  who 
have  to  do  with  the  Athenaeum  Press.  Athena  is 
seen  in  some  form  or  other  on  every  hand.  The 
Parthenon  was  built  for  her,  and  near  it  stood  her 
statue,  forty-nine  feet  high,  a  copy  of  which  we  still 
keep  over  our  front  door  in  Cambridge.  Her  hel- 
met was  tipped  with  gold,  and  it  was  the  first  thing 
the  Greek  sailor  sighted  when  he  returned  home 
from  his  trading  or  warlike  expeditions.  I  was  glad 
to  have  an  errand  to  the  American  consul's,  for  I 
found  him  a  Yale  man,  '85,  and  a  fine  fellow.  We 
had  a  good  chat.  From  there  I  went  to  the  Amer- 
ican School  of  Archaeology  and  found  Professor 
Gulick  of  Harvard,  a  cousin  of  our  author.  He  and 
Mrs.  Gulick  called  on  us  later.  He  wished  especially 
to  be  remembered  to  Mr.  Thurber. 

Corinth 
{March  25, 1912 

Since  I  commenced  this  letter  we  have  had  per- 
haps the  most  strenuous  part  of  our  journey.  We 
decided  to  go  to  Delphi,  famous  in  olden  times,  as 
you  know,  for  the  celebrated  Delphic  Oracle,  which 
foretold  the  fates  not  only  of  the  Greeks,  but  of  the 
peoples  of  Asia,  Minor  and  later  of  the  Romans 
themselves  after  they  conquered  the  Greeks.  It  is 

[103] 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

out  of  the  road  of  everyday  travel,  and  it  meant  an 
extra  effort  to  go  there.  But  we  set  out  one  morn- 
ing at  nine  o'clock  from  the  Piraeus  on  a  small 
steamer  officered  and  manned  by  Greeks,  sailed  out 
through  the  bay  of  Salamis  and  through  the  canal 
across  the  Isthmus  of  Corinth,  which  is  about  four 
miles  long,  cut  through  a  clay  bank  about  two  hun- 
dred feet  deep  and  one  hundred  feet  wide  on  the 
bottom,  into  the  Gulf  of  Corinth.  It  began  to  blow 
when  we  were  in  the  bay,  and  when  we  got  into 
the  gulf  it  was  a  tremendous  gale,  wind  dead  ahead, 
and  the  waves  as  high  as  the  ship.  We  were  due  to 
reach  Itea,  the  port  of  Delphi,  at  4  P.M.  We  got  in 
at  6.30.  It  was  still  blowing  a  gale,  and  the  landing 
was  in  the  offing  in  small  boats  which  came  out 
from  the  shore.  I  will  not  describe  in  detail  the 
adventures  and  incidents  of  the  day  and  landing.  It 
was  all  you  can  imagine  and  about  all  we  could 
stand,  but  we  got  there  all  right. 

Delphi  is  in  a  deep  valley,  or  gorge,  two  thou- 
sand feet  above  the  sea,  with  a  perpendicular  cliff 
of  another  thousand  feet  hanging  over  it,  and  old 
Mt  Parnassus  eight  thousand  feet  high  back  of  that, 
covered  with  snow  —  a  most  impressive  location.  A 
road  has  now  been  built  to  it,  zigzagging  across  the 

[104] 


A   VACATION   ON   THE    NILE 

face  of  the  mountain  —  fifteen  miles  to  go  up  the 
two  thousand  feet.  We  got  there  at  9.30  and  were 
ready  to  turn  in  without  consulting  any  oracle.  Our 
hotel  was  primitive,  each  room  not  unlike  a  hermit's 
cell  —  four  walls  and  a  floor,  all  of  cement.  The 
furnishings  consisted  of  a  bed  and  a  candle.  But  all 
agreed  that  it  was  about  the  best  place  we  had  found. 
The  next  day  was  clear  and  lovely,  and  the  views 
over  the  gulf  and  among  the  mountains,  as  far  as 
one  could  see,  were  well  worth  the  climb.  The 
Castalian  Spring,  the  ruins  of  the  Temple  of  Apollo, 
the  foundations  and  many  parts  of  the  buildings, 
and  statues  and  votive  offerings  brought  here  by  all 
the  states  of  Greece  and  many  wealthy  foreigners, 
although  much  has  disappeared,  still  give  one  a  very 
good  idea  of  the  magnificence  of  this  city  of  statues 
and  temples,  built  high  up  on  the  mountain  side, 
terrace  after  terrace,  the  whole  surmounted  by  a 
well-preserved  stadium  almost  as  large  as  the  one  at 
Athens.  Twenty-five  thousand  people  could  now  sit 
on  the  seats  that  are  left.  These  were  all  built  of 
solid  marble,  as  were  the  buildings  and  statues.  I  was 
never  more  amazed  in  my  life  than  to  find  such  a  col- 
lection in  such  an  inaccessible  location.  To  this  spot 
came  all  the  learned  and  wealthy,  the  great  soldiers 

[.05] 


A  VACATION    ON   THE   NILE 

and  statesmen  of  ancient  Greece,  to  learn  what  was 
in  store  for  them.  A  shrewd  lot  were  the  priests 
who  managed  the  old  sibyl,  and  then,  as  in  later 
times,  the  people  seemed  to  enjoy  being  humbugged. 
Our  trip  down  the  mountain  by  daylight  was  most 
enjoyable,  and  the  sail  down  the  gulf  back  to  Cor- 
inth, with  calm  seas,  was  such  a  contrast  to  our  pre- 
vious experience  that  we  forgot  all  about  it  for  the 
time ;  but  it  will  be  long  before  we  quite  forget  the 
Gulf  of  Corinth,  and  we  shall  always  have  the  feeling 
that  when  she  wills  she  can  go  some.  We  stopped 
here  overnight  at  a  very  neat  hotel,  although  small, 
and  go  on  to-night  to  Patras,  where  we  take  ship  for 
Brindisi  and  train  to  Naples,  stopping  a  few  hours 
at  Corfu. 

The  election  is  over,  and  for  enthusiasm  and  noise 
it  beats  anything  I  have  ever  seen.  Fourth  of  July, 
a  national  election,  Christmas,  and  Thanksgiving 
combined  could  not  approach  it.  The  prime  minis- 
ter is  assured  of  his  reelection  and  there  is  great  re- 
joicing. They  have  been  a  week  getting  ready  to 
vote,  and  it  will  take  them  a  week  to  get  over  it. 
From  the  youngest  boy  to  the  oldest  soldier  who 
fought  in  the  revolution,  all  hands  are  out,  and  it 
is  a  sight  worth  seeing.  This  morning  on  the  first 

[,06] 


A  VACATION   ON   THE   NILE 

train  the  prime  minister  came  here  and  was  met  by 
a  crowd  who  carried  him  to  this  hotel,  where  he 
took  refuge  for  a  time.  We  Americans  shook  hands 
with  him  and  told  him  in  our  poor  French  and 
English  how  glad  we  were  that  he  was  to  continue 
in  office.  The  boys  thought  it  was  great. 

I  thought  when  I  left  Egypt  I  would  not  write 
any  more  long  letters,  but  I  am  afraid  this  is  the 
longest  of  all. 

Everybody  well. 

Yours, 

L.  P. 


CI07] 


XVIII 

Adriatic  Sea,  near  C°rfu 

{March  28,  1912 
DEAR  FRIENDS, 

Our  trip  from  Corinth  along  the  south  shore  of 
the  Gulf  of  Corinth  is  a  very  pleasant  memory,  a 
repetition  of  a  similar  trip  nine  years  ago.  But 
the  railroad  improvements  here,  as  well  as  all  over 
Greece,  have  been  very  great  in  that  time.  We  now 
find  clean  cars,  a  rock-ballasted  roadbed,  and  larger 
engines,  so  that  the  running  time  is  much  reduced 
and  the  comforts  of  traveling  much  greater.  The 
same  can  be  said  of  the  hotels.  While  they  are 
yet  far  from  modern,  still  on  the  whole  we  were 
made  quite  comfortable,  which  was  not  true  nine 
years  ago. 

This  ride  along  the  gulf  is  in  many  ways  the 
most  entertaining  bit  of  railroading  that  I  have  ever 

[109] 


A  VACATION   ON   THE   NILE 

enjoyed.  For  miles  and  miles  we  run  close  to  the 
shore  through  a  succession  of  vineyards,  for  this  is 
the  great  industry  of  Greece.  The  vines  are  cut 
back  close  to  the  ground  and  look  like  stumps  of 
trees.  The  small  seedless  raisins  are  grown  in  vast 
quantities,  and  are  a  principal  export  of  the  country. 
Among  them  in  spots  are  also  large  groves  of  olive 
trees,  which  may  be  found  all  over  Greece,  and  are 
about  the  only  cultivated  trees  we  see. 

The  gulf  itself  is  perhaps  from  ten  to  twenty 
miles  wide,  and  its  waters  are  constantly  chang- 
ing in  color  —  many  shades  of  green  and  running  up 
into  the  violet,  especially  toward  sunset  when  the 
western  sky  is  very  red.  We  see  all  the  colors  of 
the  rainbow  on  the  surface  of  the  water.  Across 
the  gulf  are  great  ranges  of  mountains  separated  by 
deep  valleys,  the  highest  mountains  covered  with 
snow  and  all  very  rugged  and  barren,  for  there  is  no 
growth  of  wood  on  these  mountains,  and  they,  too, 
change  their  color  as  the  sun  strikes  them  at  a  dif- 
ferent angle.  Altogether  it  keeps  one's  interest  up 
and  makes  the  journey  seem  much  shorter  than  such 
trips  usually  are.  Above  the  vineyards  are  the  pas- 
tures, and  here  we  see  great  herds  of  sheep  and 
goats  with  the  shepherds  and  their  crooks,  always 

[,,0] 


•;  71* rani  ^:\y^ 


THE    CANAL    ACROSS    ISTHMUS   OF    CORINTH    WITH    RAILWAY 
BRIDGE   ABOVE 


THE   MOUNTAIN    BACK   OF   DELPHI 


BEFORE   THE   CAVE   OF   THE   SIBYL   AT   DELPHI 


A  VACATION   ON   THE   NILE 

accompanied  by  their  faithful  dogs,  and  the  shep- 
herd's pipe  is  still  to  be  heard  as  in  the  olden  days. 

At  Patras  we  went  on  board  this  ship  of  the  Aus- 
trian Lloyd  line,  which  is  clean  and  well  manned  — 
quite  a  contrast  between  it  and  the  Turkish  boat, 
and  it  shows  clearly  the  German  management  so 
much  to  be  commended.  Two  nights  and  a  day 
will  take  us  to  Brindisi.  We  came  into  Corfu  about 
eleven  o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  and  the  sail  along 
its  shores  and  into  its  splendid  harbor  was  most  en- 
joyable. 

While  this  is  now  a  part  of  Greece,  it  was  held 
for  four  hundred  years  by  the  Venetians,  then  by 
the  Turks,  and  afterwards  by  the  English.  Gladstone 
was  in  charge  here  for  a  number  of  years,  and  the 
English  made  fine  roads  all  over  the  island.  Two 
great  medieval  stone  fortresses  guard  the  entrance  to 
the  harbor,  and  they  were,  no  doubt,  impregnable 
when  built,  but  modern  guns  would  batter  them 
down  in  a  few  hours. 

We  have  five  hours  ashore  here,  and  take  a  lovely 
drive  back  into  the  country,  which  is  one  mighty 
olive  grove,  there  being  over  ten  million  trees  in 
good  bearing  condition,  and  vast  quantities  of  olive 
oil  are  exported.  On  one  of  the  highest  cliffs  of  the 

[HI] 


A  VACATION    ON    THE    NILE 

island  the  Empress  Eugenia  built  a  fine  palace.  We 
drove  up  to  it  and  entered  the  grounds,  from  which 
we  got  a  grand  view  up  and  down  the  sea  and  across 
into  Turkey,  as  the  sea  a  few  miles  north  of  Corfu 
is  less  than  two  miles  wide.  The  emperor  of  Ger- 
many bought  the  palace  two  or  three  years  ago,  and 
as  some  of  the  family  were  there  we  could  not  enter 
it,  as  we  did  when  I  was  here  before. 

Later ^at  3\(aples 

I  have  been  so  busy  that  I  nearly  forgot  to  finish 
this  letter  and  post  it. 

After  our  experience  on  the  Gulf  of  Corinth  there 
was  considerable  anxiety  on  the  part  of  some  mem- 
bers of  our  party  (I  mention  no  names)  about  the 
Adriatic  trip,  but  we  were  happily  disappointed,  for 
the  waters  were  calm,  the  skies  clear,  and  a  fine 
moon  at  night,  so  we  all  enjoyed  it  much. 

At  4  A.M.  we  reached  Brindisi  (the  Brundisium  of 
the  Romans),  and  were  all  hands  summoned  to  the 
main  cabin  to  be  looked  over  by  the  Italian  doctor 
who  came  on  board.  All  persons  coming  in  from 
the  East  must  be  examined  for  traces  of  cholera, 
smallpox,  and  other  contagious  diseases  to  which  we 
were  supposed  to  have  exposed  ourselves  while  in 


THE    RUINS    OF   THE    TEMPLE    OF    APOLLO    AT    DELPHI 


A  SECTION   OF   THE   STADIUM   AT   DELPHI 


. 


CITADEL   AT   CORFU 


m- 


INNER   HARBOR   OF   CORFU 


A  VACATION    ON   THE    NILE 

the  Orient.  He  looked  me  over  a  bit  and  wanted 
to  know  if  all  my  party  were  in  as  good  condition 
as  I  was,  and  I  took  oath  that  they  were.  He  said, 
"  All  right,"  and  gave  me  papers  to  permit  landing 
—  a  big  farce  in  our  case,  but  no  doubt  necessary. 

As  we  went  off  the  ship  we  saw  standing  upon  a 
small  hill  a  marble  column,  perhaps  sixty  feet  high, 
which  marked  the  eastern  end  of  the  Appian  Way. 
This  famous  road  runs  from  here  straight  to  Rome, 
and  over  it  the  Roman  cohorts  marched  on  their  way 
to  take  boats  to  Greece  and  the  Far  East  when  Rome 
ruled  the  world.  It  is  still  the  starting  point  for  the 
Eastern  steamship  lines,  and  all  our  quick  mail  to 
Egypt  came  via  this  port. 

As  we  land  here,  although  we  are  some  ways  from 
Oak  Knoll,  we  feel  that  we  have  got  home,  or  at 
least  have  arrived  at  the  well-beaten  path  that  is  fol- 
lowed by  all  who  come  to  Italy,  and  from  this  point 
on  I  think  you  will  all  know  in  a  general  way  about 
what  we  are  looking  at. 

The  weather  continues  fine,  cool,  and  clear,  and 
so  far  we  have  not  been  delayed  a  moment  by  stormy 
weather. 

Yours, 

L.  P. 
["3] 


On  the  opposite  page  is  a  reproduction  (reduced 
about  one  half)  of  one  of  the  fourteen  pages  of  a 
Coptic  manuscript  written  on  vellum,  found  in  Luxor 
and  presented  to  Mr.  George  A.  Plimpton  of  New 
York.  I  purchased  it  of  Mohareb  Todius,  who  has 
been  German  Consular  Agent  at  that  point  for  many 
years,  himself  an  Egyptian  and  a  Copt.  The  manu- 
script had  been  turned  over  to  him  by  a  Coptic  priest 
who  had  found  it  in  one  of  the  old  monasteries. 
After  reaching  Cairo  I  took  it  to  the  Egyptian  Mu- 
seum and  showed  it  to  Professor  Maspero,  the  Egyp- 
tologist, who  pronounced  it  genuine.  He  was  able  to 
read  portions  of  it.  He  stated  that  it  is  very  difficult 
now  to  find  anything  of  that  general  character.  It 
has  since  been  found  that  the  rest  of  the  manuscript 
is  in  the  library  of  the  late  J.  Pierpont  Morgan.  The 
volume  itself  is  a  translation  of  the  book  of  Luke, 

written  about  884  A.D. 

L.  P. 


["4] 


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